Heads or Tails: Castleford’s 38 Matches in Finals
By John Davis
()
About this ebook
John Davis
Author, self-taught electrical engineering designer, worked for 50 plus years, finally retired and always wanted to write a book put his fingers to the keyboard. The words of this book poured out from his life experiences, lost loves, friends, grandparents and family. A fictional book with touches of true life and life long characters from his past.
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Heads or Tails - John Davis
Heads or Tails: Castleford’s 38 Matches in Finals by
Dr John Davis
First Edition Published in February 2020 Copyright © 2020 Dr John Davis
All rights reserved
The moral right of the author has been asserted Published by Dr John Davis through www.lulu.com
The reader is asked to note that the author has severe disabilities and health conditions which have made it necessary for him to organise a number of very dedicated people to pull together to enable this work of art to be transmitted from his mind to the printed page. His team has made every reasonable effort to ensure the accuracy of this book. The assistance of volunteers has been imperative to its fruition and all those involved should be congratulated for their respective individual contributions. The author is therefore very appreciative for the unstinting commitment of Rosie Balmer, Simon Blackman, Christine Cains, Mary Concannon, Paul Davis, Paul Harding, Val Kendall and Paul Tatterton, Graeme Way as well as Andrew Hardcastle for information regarding the Halifax scorers in the Winners Cup.
This book is dedicated to those very loyal and reliable people who have enabled me to overcome the severe constraints of chronic health problems.
D:\Google Downloads\978-1-4476-3028-9 (1).pngCONTENTS
Preface
The author has produced many other books which are detailed in this preface.
Completed publications are available from www.lulu.com at £9.99 each and can be categorised in the following three sections, each book below containing a very brief description of its content.
Section One Castleford Tigers and Sport
Contains a series of 15 books published simultaneously plus five further books published subsequently in a comprehensive and thorough analysis of Castleford Rugby League Football Club in which text, statistics, tables and poetry provide the reader with a great deal of information to peruse at their leisure. A couple of the books also touch upon sports other than rugby league.
Castleford Challenge Cup Campaigns to 2015
Provides a detailed analysis of the illustrious Challenge Cup competition to 2015 with particular emphasis on Castleford’s participation from 1927, not least this club’s appearances in semi-finals and finals when some heart-wrenching disappointing experiences in history have contrasted sharply with the four glorious occasions when Cas lifted the Challenge Cup.
Days of the Tigers 1926-2015
Provides a thorough consideration of Castleford’s results in competitive fixtures from 1926 to 2015 by day of the week, by month and by each date of the year as well as covering other topics utilising this theme, for example season opening matches and a happy diary.
Castleford Tigers 1926-2015: Performances and Accomplishments
Analyses Castleford’s record by competition against each opponent between 1926 and 2015 and details various accomplishments of both players and the team throughout the history of the club.
Tigers’ Top Tens 1926-2015: Constituents of Rugby League
Discusses top ten names of Castleford personnel relating to vital aspects of rugby league including appearances, tries, goals, defence and many more, whether factual or the thoughts of the author, designed to engender constructive debate.
Tigers’ Top Tens 1926-2015: Teamwork
Considers Castleford’s top ten for a series of themes including matches and seasons both of a triumphant nature and of those generating a disappointing memory in history.
Castleford Tigers 1926-2015: Results
All Castleford’s competitive results from 1926 to 2015 are listed by season together with a comprehensive statistical analysis and some key commentary.
The Jungle Pecking Order: Where are the Tigers?
Analyses how high Castleford should be placed in considering the teams which have graced the sport of rugby league to the end of the 2015 season, arguing that the club possibly warrants a play-off position as judged by the 2019 structure of Super League.
Defining Moments for Castleford Tigers 1926-2015
Identifies the vital moments in history of Castleford Rugby League Football Club, beginning with their inception into the professional ranks in 1926 to the end of the 2015 campaign and provides a comprehensive list of scores in all finals in the sport of rugby league.
Castleford RLFC1926-2015: The Leeds/Manly/Wembley Connection
Documents Castleford’s connections with near-neighbours Leeds, the far-off Manly club in Australia and the famous Wembley venue to 2015 and illustrates Cas’ performances versus Leeds over the 1926-2015 period.
It Happened in a Final: Cas 33 v 2 Wigan
Builds upon the exciting Mick Morgan commentary of the 1994 Regal Trophy Final when Castleford destroyed Wigan at Headingley 33-2 by detailing this match and placing it in the context of history by considering all the finals involving these two sides and much more.
Never to be Forgotten: Memoirs of a Cas Follower to 2015
Provides a comprehensive account of the author’s recollections and experiences following Castleford from his earliest memories in 1965 to the end of the 2015 season and emphasises the matches involved in Cas winning silverware.
100+ Castleford Victories 1926-2015
The author selects over 100 Castleford victories to 2015 incorporating all eras and triumphs of the club.
Super League XVI: Diary of a Tiger in 2011
A detailed diary illustrates the highs and lows of the 2011 rugby league season from the viewpoint of a Castleford Tigers fan.
Super League XIX: Historical Perspective and Tigers Diary of 2014
A week-by-week diary follows the performances and results of Castleford Tigers within the sport of rugby league throughout the 2014 campaign, which culminated in a Wembley appearance and a near Super League Leaders crown.
From Leeds to Poole: Sporting Memories 1965-2015
Summarises year by year the author’s recollections of the highlights of many sports in the half century to 2015 and covers the major sporting events from football’s World Cup Final at Wembley in 1966 to Jonny Wilkinson’s drop goal in Sydney in 2003 and includes the author’s sporting activities.
Lock Lane to Australia: 102 Sporting Venues featuring Castleford
Covers Castleford’s performances and record against the various opponents faced on each of the 102 grounds on which this rugby league club played across the world in the 1926- 2016 period and includes detailed summary statistics.
My Rugby League Challenge Cup Experiences 1964-2016
Discusses the author’s experiences year by year from 1964 to 2016 following Castleford in the Challenge Cup competition in the sport of rugby league and highlights the nadirs and particularly the zeniths.
Tigers Top of the Tree: Developments 2016-17 with a 2018 Addendum
Updates each of the author’s previous books featuring Castleford Tigers by covering the 2016 and 2017 seasons in detail and providing a summary of Cas’ 2018 campaign.
Sporting Tension….What If? 1963-2018
The author selects a memorable sporting occasion when tension was the order of the day for each year from 1963 to 2018 and considers the context of the eventual result. It also includes an annual table documenting the UK and US political leaders and the top music of the time.
Castleford’s Matches of the Day/Month/Year 1926-2018
The author chooses a match of the day, month and year to encourage all Castleford supporters and to illustrate the journey of this rugby league club by highlighting the various zeniths throughout its history from 1926 to 2018.
Section Two Fiction
This consists of four books involving animal adventures.
Neddy and Eye
A story which describes how a foal is saved in Devon and later helps the police to solve a crime committed in Liverpool by utilising the assistance of a magic eye which transmits information from a patient in York District Hospital.
Animal Friends Society
Describes how ten animals unite and have a number of adventures in support of morality.
The Terrific Trio
Describes how the Irish Wolfhound, Albert, links up with two West Highland Terriers, Sophie and Mr Sophie, to enjoy helping humans with animal therapy.
The Sensational Six
Irish Wolfhound Albert and his five dog friends travel to Africa on a mission of mercy to help young elephant Edgar find his herd. They are eventually successful but not before negotiating intervention by lions.
Section Three Autobiography and selected Topics
Comprises four books which detail the interesting and inspiring journey of the author’s life and includes some of his thoughts on a variety of subjects.
My Participation Memoirs: 1964-2018
The author describes the various sports and activities in which he has participated throughout his life from Under 11 rugby league in Leeds to jogging when health issues ruled him out of contact sports, mention also being given to a number of games and pursuits both indoors and outdoors designed to prompt the reader to reflect on his or her interests and achievements.
How About This ….?
A variety of topics are considered and commented upon with the aim being to motivate the reader to consider his or her thoughts and so enhance debate.
A Foot in Both Camps: Defying the Odds
The author explains how health issues from birth and subsequently did not prevent the ultimate in success and how a never say die attitude underpins achievement.
The Fight to Swim, Walk and Write
Describes the struggles the author has had in striving to undertake his essential needs of exercise and Therapeutic Constructive Writing and how he has succeeded despite intransigence from ‘the system’.
Synopsis
In general it is reasonable to believe that a team has a fifty percent chance of winning a final in the sport of rugby league. This is certainly the case over a long period of time when a team has had the opportunity to make it to a number of finals. Some teams are unfortunate in that they do not make it to many finals but I am pleased to report that, as a Castleford Tigers supporter, this is not the case with Cas and this book considers the 38 matches this traditional and homely rugby league club has played when silverware was waiting for the winners.
As one would expect from tossing a coin, Cas have the same number of wins as defeats, 18 each, the first final occurring as far back as 1935 and the latest as recently as 2017. Two have been drawn.
This book dissects these 38 encounters in finals in far more detail than previous books and presents a plethora of relevant statistics, text and poetry suitable for both the connoisseur and more casual rugby league enthusiasts particularly those of a Castleford persuasion.
Chapter 1 Overview
Since entering the professional ranks as long ago as 1926, a year which is better remembered in the UK as that in which the General Strike occurred and also the one which produced the birth of Queen Elizabeth II, by the end of 2019 Castleford have played 38 matches after which a piece of silverware awaited the winners. They have won 18, the first being the Challenge Cup in 1935 and the latest occurring in 2007 when the Tigers achieved promotion back to Super League for the second time in three years. I have not counted the magnificent season of 2017 when Cas beat Wakefield Trinity with still three matches to go in their Super League campaign to lift the League Leaders Shield in the elite division. Nor have I included other league titles, the Yorkshire League in 1933, 1939 and 1965 and the Minor Premiership (League Leaders Shield) of National League One in 2007.
It is fascinating that the club has also lost 18 such matches, the first in 1939 when they were so cruelly denied from winning the Championship by a late Salford try after an unfortunate bounce of the ball and the most recent occurring in 2017 in the Super League Grand Final to Leeds Rhinos after the Tigers had beaten this club four times previously in the league season to win the League Leaders Shield, as just mentioned.
There has not been a full decade without Cas having appeared in at least one final of one description or another. They had lost four semi-finals before eventually grasping the opportunity to compete for silverware but when they did have this chance in 1935 they took all the plaudits with a magnificent victory at Wembley Stadium against a powerful Huddersfield outfit in the Challenge Cup Final. At the end of this decade Castleford were most unfortunate, as mentioned previously, not to be crowned champions.
The Second World War savaged normality and the period following this was not great for Cas, although they did participate in a Yorkshire Cup Final in each of the 1940s and 1950s, towards the end of the former decade and at the beginning of the latter. After this final in 1950 things were tough and no final was in sight. Even so, with the coming to age of a plethora of home-grown young players finals became reasonably plentiful in the second half of the 1960s, including a second Wembley success in the Challenge Cup.
When the team