Captain Orr steers Tigers beyond toothless Salford

Castleford Tigers 19 Salford City Reds 6

Extra responsibility obviously agrees with Danny Orr. The Castleford stand-off, whose 2001 season was severely curtailed by a shoulder operation, was appointed captain during his winter recuperation at the relatively young age of 23. If the objective is to make the undeniably talented Orr a more assertive presence on the field, the signs were good at The Jungle yesterday as he was largely responsible for steering the Tigers to a comfortable win in this Challenge Cup fourth-round tie.

Not only did he set Castleford on their way with two first-half tries, but along with Michael Smith and Mark Lennon, he remained one of the leading influences on the game throughout.

"It's very good to be back. It's been seven months since I played and I was very nervous before the game,'' admitted Orr. "But when I got the first tackle, the nerves went.''

It was the Salford defence that seemed frozen by nerves when Orr ran at them after an indeterminate first 13 minutes. His sidestep wrong-footed them and he showed plenty of pace to dash for the line from 20 yards out.

Just before the half-hour, Orr struck again, this time latching on to a clever one-handed pass out of the tackle from Smith to nip in. "I'm not a prolific try-scorer, so I was thinking about a hat-trick,'' Orr said.

One responsibility he has shed is that of goal-kicker, a role taken over by Castleford's new hooker, Wayne Bartrim, who put over both conversions.

It was only the kicking of Bobbie Goulding that was keeping a Salford side incapable of making a break remotely in touch. A game interrupted by far too many penalties saw Goulding land three of them before half-time to limit Castleford's lead to six points.

But Orr organised Mitch Healey, his half-back partner, for a drop-goal that strengthened Castleford's position and, after 57 minutes, Smith made sure that Cas would be in the last 16.

He went through some weak tackling for the clinching try, with Bartrim's third goal from as many attempts providing the game's final points.

Against opposition as toothless as Salford, they had scored more than enough. They manufactured only one real try-scoring chance; Darren Treacy could have gone for the line himself, but chose to pass to Alan Hunte, who lost the ball trying to cross in the corner.

"I'm very disappointed,'' said their coach, Steve McCormack, who must know that they face a long hard season in Super League. "We were still in it at half-time and if we'd controlled the ball in the second half we would have been OK.''

Instead, Salford repeatedly fumbled possession and looked like a side that will have great difficulty scoring points.

Castleford Tigers: Gay; Wells, Eagar, Johnson, Rogers; Orr, Healey; Sykes, Bartrim, Lynch, Smith, Fritz, Harland. Substitutes used: Lennon, Hudson, Godwin.

Salford City Reds: Broadbent; Pinkney, Hunte, Littler, Gibson; Holroyd, Goulding; Baynes, Watson, Highton, Nicol, Jowitt, Treacy. Substitutes used: Shaw, Ebrill, Wainwright, Arnold.

Referee: S Ganson (St Helens).