After a tough week, which saw nine props ruled out for a variety of reasons and the club going into the game without a recognised scrum-half, the Vandals can take heart from the fact they had somehow performed the impossible and managed to field two teams (the 2s faced Castleford back at Warley in the Merit League) for the opening weekend.

Tom West, once of neighbours Halifax, was drafted in at 72 hours notice to alleviate the issues in the front row, while Jimmy Crowther stepped up to fill the vacant 9 shirt despite zero training sessions in the new role. On top of this, flanker George Clapham was deployed as an emergency 12, while Nath Harris made his first appearance since March 2020, having missed the entire pre-season campaign through work.

However, despite the disruptions, the Vandals went toe-to-toe with a strong Castleford team who have the talent to be challenging for promotion at the end of the season.

The Vandals set-piece never faltered, while the visitors made good yards over the gain line, led by new signing Olly Coyne, Isaac Pollard, Clapham and Harris.

Crowther and Castleford’s star 15 Tom Egan swapped penalties in the first 8 minutes as both sides looked to gain an advantage, before the Vandals moved 6-3 up through the boot of their makeshift 9.

The Vandals had looked fairly comfortable at this stage but a poor clearance from a free-kick gave Castleford the counter-attacking chance that makes them so dangerous, with Egan setting them on their way for Oliver Arundel to score after a powerful 30m charge. Egan converted.

And the home side followed up with a second score on the half-hour mark, Desmond McSweeney profiting out-wide from a smart move.

Vandals regrouped brilliantly, though, and spent the final 10 minutes of the half on the front foot. Danny Mitchell went close after a clever break but was deemed to have been held up, while Crowther had two shots at goal - one which went over to reduce the deficit to 15-9.

From the resulting kick-off, the Vandals countered as a loose ball wasn’t gathered. Pollard hacked upfield, won the race and only a desperate last ditch tackle denied him on the line. However the Castleford No.20 then deliberately killed the ball, stopping any hope of Vandals exploiting the gapping holes in the home defence, and was yellow carded. Sensing blood and with ref signalling for last play before half-time, Vandals opted to run the ball and they looked to have been rewarded when Ben Burnside drove over. The ref, though, was unsighted and ruled the ball was held up.

The start of the second half mirrored that of the first, with Crowther slotting over a penalty, only for Egan to extend Castleford’s lead to 21-12 with two of his own.

Both sides went at it hammer and tongs, but despite having the lion’s share of possession, the Vandals just couldn’t get the breakthrough - and with 10 minutes left they were caught by a sucker punch as Egan again cut through initially to creat the space for Lawrence Stevens to score. Egan converted.

With the score at 28-12 and time running out, Vandals threw everything at Cas. Chris Robinson, Joe Greenwood and Coyne all had good breaks that came to nothing, while visitors felt they deserved more when a 2 v 1 ended up with the try-scoring pass being slapped down but the referee only awarded a scrum.

Vandals finally breached the Cas defence with two minutes to go, with Jamie Richardson being driven over. Crowther converted to cut the gap to 9 points - and although the visitors pushed for a deserved bonus point, it wasn’t to be.

Full credit to Castleford, who played well for the win and will be among the front-runners this season based on their performance.