Cas 18's 40-28 Widnes

Widnes did well seen as about 10 players missing.

I think we did bloody good with 3 players

If you had 10 missing and named 20 players on team sheet, how are Widnes able to have a squad of 30+??

I am not going to name them all, but a few who would have made a difference are Alex Brown,Adam Lawton,Lewis Whitty,Tom Gilmore,are just a few. So this result was expected with these class youngsters missing.

Lighten up you took the bait posting on a Widnes board. You obviously got a grin like a Cheshire Cat to let us know we lost.Big deal we do not care so jog on.

W-R-E clearly the win means a lot to you ..well done !!!..now lets talk about the 34 players who actually PLAYED that night and applaud them or am i missing something here ? lol

It seems as if the result really meant something to post on the Widnes site. In all seriousness, as he can not take a joke i think Widnes will be a good team in a few years, and will attract the best youngsters once our fan base increases.We missed quality players, but who cares as more talent will come to the Stobarts.Well done Castleford.

OFF dont let a few defeats on the 18's make you think we are a bad team ,yes injuries happen-as it does to every team to be fair.We have some real quality in there right now ,aswell as the names you mentioned mate there are others to look out for.

Not been an U18s for awhile and i am sure there is more talent.Some players develop abit later than others but i think all be good mate.

The team that started the season, and their correct positions was:

Owens, Brown, Hulme D, Fernyhough, Butterworth, Atkin, Price, Davies, Hughes, Whitty, Norton, Rigby Lawton. Subs Hulme L, Tague, Buck, Wainwright.

Tom Gilmore has missed all of the league games (only played in a friendly against Harlequins when he scored 2 tries 3 goals) so it is unfair to count him as one of our missing players (although he is a great talent) as Danny Price has been an ever present. However that line up has been the team sheet for a majority of games with the odd exception.

The team on Thursday was:

Sheridan, Butterworth, Doolan, Hulme D, Blackmore, Owen, Price, Davies, Hulme L, Tague, Wainwright, Buck, Hughes. Subs. Atkin, Orme, O'Brien, Rigby.

Sheridan--only his 2nd game in 14 months due to injury. Owen played at stand off for the first time since school, Hughes played at loose forward for the first time for at least 2 seasons.

With this much changed team, we held our own in the first half and with better application (and defence!!) should have gone into the break at least level but trailed 16-12. In the second half they threatened to take the lead when trailing 22-18 but ultimately the sharper side with a better defence took control.

I understand Cas had 'some' players unavailable but despite a leaky defence all season, I believe that (with apologies to the lads who played) if both teams had played their 'first' team then the result would have been different.