Head coach of Castleford Tigers says his team deserved to win - Rugby League news
Terry Matterson of the Castleford Tigers reckons that this outfit deserved to walk into the Carnegie Challenge Cup 2011’s final even though his squad lost to the Rhino Leeds in a dramatic score break up of 8-10. The Rhinos clinched victory when Kevin Sinfield
of Leeds scored a golden point just two minutes into the extra time of Sunday night’s clash, at the Doncaster’s Keepmoat Stadium.
Matterson, who is concluding his tenure with Castleford, was hoping to wrap it up on a winning note. He pointed out that the referee, Phil Bentham’s decision to penalise Ryan McGoldrick for the tackle on Danny McGuire was not justified.
He further acknowledges that his outfit had to face a brutal defeat, and knowing that this was his last opportunity as Tigers’ head coach for that spot, worsens the scenario. While sharing his feelings about the semi-final encounter, Matterson stated, “We
deserved to be there. It hurts. I think it will be my last opportunity and that hurts as well. To have it taken away like that is pretty cruel. The number of times we were hit high and they weren't penalised, and the one at the end was across his shoulder.
We're up against it enough. Big teams seem to get the roll of the dice. Maybe one day I'll be with a big team and I'll know how it feels.”
Almost two decades later, the Tigers were so close in booking themselves a spot on the final showdown of the Carnegie Challenge Cup 2011 at Wembley, but the equation of Tigers lead was soon altered unexpectedly, as Leeds sprung back to life late.
The Rangi Chase’s inclusion for the Sunday night’s game had made the fans of Tigers very happy, but his addition into the outfit did not confirm their win against Leeds, who failed to display impressive play during the initial half of the game.
Tigers were leading with 8-2 during the concluding nine minutes of the game but the equation was dramatically altered when during the 80th minute of the game a try was scored by Kallum Watkins, which was converted by Sinfield to level up the scores
and game trotted into the extra time.
During the extra time, Chase of Tigers missed the perfect opportunity which was laid down by his captain, Danny Orr that would have swept the Tigers to be the finalists of the Challenge Cup after nineteen years.
However, with this opportunity missed out by Tigers, Sinfield earned a match winning goal for Leeds just two minutes into the extra time to label themselves as the finalist of the Challenge Cup for the second time.
Tags: