Pre-season friendlies round up as Leeds win in the USA

Castleford 22-14 Bradford

Castleford came from 14-6 down to beat Championship side Bradford 22-14 in Andy Lynch’s testimonial game at The Jungle.

The game had been in doubt on Saturday following stadium damage caused by high winds, but went ahead, and the Bulls started brightly, hitting the front through tries from Jay Pitts, Ryan Shaw and Adrian Purtell.

Former Bulls half-back Luke Gale set up the platform for Castleford’s first try, for winger Justin Carney, and the Tigers kept a clean sheet after half time – with Ashley Gibson getting them back within a score with a fine try.

With Bradford down to 12 men following the sinbinning of Adam Brook, Scott Moore put Castleford in front for the first time with a try, and Mike McMeeken wrapped it up late on.

Castleford: Dorn, Clare, Webster, Solomona, Carney, Roberts, Gale, Lynch, Milner, Millington, Holmes, Cook, Massey Subs: Moore, Wheeldon, Finn, Tansey, Channing, McMeeken, Crossley, Gibson

Tries: Carney, Gibson, Moore, McMeeken. Goals: Gale (3/4)

Bradford: Mullaney, Uaisele, Purtell, Baile, Williams, Gaskell, Siejka, Clough, O’Brien, Sidlow, Walshaw, Pitts, Walker Subs: Tahraoui, Addy, Conroy, Brook, Olbison, Ulugia, Shaw, Halafihi, Davies, Mellor

Tries: Pitts, Shaw, Purtell. Goals: Siejka (1/3)

Dewsbury 28-12 Salford

Dewsbury marked winger Austin Buchanan’s testimonial with a 28-12 win over Salford.

The Red Devils left most of their star-studded squad at home, though there was a starting place for England international Gareth Hock and on-loan Wigan forward Scott Taylor.

A quickfire start had the Rams 12-0 up early on through converted Scott Hale and Rob Spicer tries, and they led 18-0 at the break following a Makali Aizue try.

The win was all but in the bag when Karl Pryce crossed for an early second half try, and the visitors finally got on the scoresheet on 51 minutes, when new signing Carl Forster crossed.

Brad England and Sam Wood exchanged late tries as the Rams recorded a 28-12 victory.

Dewsbury: Hyde, Buchanan, Pryce, Grady, Grabt, Wildie, Thackeray, Hepworth, Hemingway, Haggarty, Spicer, Hale, Farrell. Subs: Adamson, Morton, Godwin, Brown, Johnson, Smith, Aizue, Walford, Wood.

Tries: Hale, Spicer, Aizue, Pryce, Wood. Goals: Hyde 2/2, Hemingway 2/3

Salford: Ford, McGrath, Bibby, Walton, England, Evalds, Fages, Taylor, Hood, A Walne, J Walne, Gee, Hock. Subs: Forster, Menzies, Griffin, Files, Lannon, Jones.

Tries: Forster, England. Goals: Hood 2/2

Doncaster 28-29 Hull

A late Jordan Abdul drop-goal earned a youthful Hull side a dramatic victory in a thriller at Doncaster.

The Airlie Birds led 16-0 inside 12 minutes thanks to scores from Curtis Naughton, Callum Smith and Jack Logan.

Doncaster hit back through Mike Kelly and Stewart Sanderson, but Naughton’s second had Hull 22-10 to the good at the break.

They extended that lead in the second half through Abdul’s try, only for the Dons to mount a comeback, levelling the score on 71 minutes at 28-28.

Abdul kicked the decisive drop goal with five minutes to play, and the Dons just couldn’t find a winner – despite turning down a kickable penalty in the late stages of the game.

Doncaster: Scott, Vincent, Cowling, Dunn, Sanderson, Kittrick, Wilkinson, Waller, Kesik, Clark, Walton, Kelly, Emmett. Subs: Carbutt, Spiers, Welham, Waterman, Wilson, Foster, Doherty, Gilbey, Palmer, Holt

Tries: Kelly, Sanderson, Spiers, Scott, Walton. Goals: Sanderson 2/3, Waterman 2/2.

Hull: Naughton, Smith, Arundel, Logan, Lancaster, Abdull, Harry Tyson-Wilson, Watts, Howarth, Green, Turgut, Downs, Fash. Subs: Paleaaesina, Matongo, Stark, Parker, Silk, Bastiman, Wiggins

Tries: Naughton 2, Smith, Logan, Adbul. Goals: Naughton 4/5. Drop Goal: Abdul

Hull KR 16-46 Halifax

Hull KR suffered a heavy defeat against partner club Halifax in Jason Netherton’s testimonial.

Chris Chester fielded a youthful team and they were undone in the second half by a strong Halifax outfit.

There were debuts for Kieran Dixon, John Boudebza, James Donaldson and Greg Burke for Hull KR, and they were level at 16-16 at the break.

But Halifax cut loose in the second half, with Luke Ambler scoring two tries.

Halifax: Greenwood; Saxton, Taylor, Heaton, Brown; Murrell, Johnston; Ambler, Kaye, Moore; Manning, Divorty, Bracek. Subs: Cahalane, Maneely, Mennell, Place, Saltonstall, Spencer, Tyrer, Robinson.

Tries: Saxton, Heaton, Manning, Tyrer, Greenwood, Ambler 2, Taylor. Goals: Murrell 2/3, Tyrer 5/5.

Hull KR: Dixon; Guzdek, Welham, Salter, Holdstock; Marsh, Carlile; Netherton, Boudebza, Green; Donaldson, Horne, Burke. Subs: Esslemont, Aldous, Armstrong, Smith, Wake, Moran, Harris, Larroyer

Tries: Welham, Dixon, Horne. Goals: Dixon 2/3.

USA Pioneers 0-76 Leeds

Leeds recorded a 15-try victory in a historic game against USA Pioneers in Florida.

England winger Tom Briscoe romped home for a hat-trick as Leeds led 40-0 at half time.

The Rhinos fielded Florida locals Joe Eichner and Terence Williams in their team in the second half, to reward them for their efforts in the training camp during the week.

And Eichner even managed to score a try in a game that was played over four 20-minute quarters, with Williams adding the final conversion of the match.

Leeds: Golding, T Briscoe, Watkins, Keinhorst, Hall, McGuire, Sutcliffe, Leuluai, Aiton, Peacock, Jones-Buchanan, Ablett, Cuthbertson. Subs: S Ward, Achurch, Singleton, Walters, Yates, Minchella, R Ward.

Tries: T Briscoe 4, Hall 2, Watkins, Achurch, R Ward, Walters, Keinhorst, Sutcliffe, S Ward, Eichner, Singleton. Goals: Sutcliffe 1/5, McGuire 3/3, Golding 2/5, Williams 1/1.

Wakefield 34-20 Featherstone

York 0-62 Hull

A torrid week for York ended with a mauling at the hands of Super League side Hull.

Left homeless following a dramatic fall out with the local council over plans for a new stadium, York were forced to host the Airlie Birds at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster.

A strong Hull side showed no mercy, running in 11 tries, including hat-tricks for young full-back Jamie Shaul and Seitamata Sa.

Hull: Rankin, Lineham, Sa, Yeaman, Talanoa, Pryce, Sneyd, Paea, Houghton, Bowden, Ellis, Minichiello, Thompson. Subs: Shaul, Cunningham, Bower, Wood, Hadley, Tyson-Wilson.

Tries: Sa 3, Talanoa 2, Yeaman, Hadley, Shaul 3, Lineham. Goals: Sneyd: 9/11

York: Nicklin, Dent, Morrison, Aspinall, Chisholm, Haynes, Smith, Applegarth, Carter, Aldous, Mallinder, Smith, Roche. Subs: Iley, Dent, Craig, Glover, Nicholson, Joynt, Pickles, Bulmer, Leary, Ford