Castleford Panthers 4 Keighley Albion Cats 36 - Keighley returned to action after an extended festive break with an easy victory over a weakened Castleford side. However, it took the Cats until almost half time to get into their stride and it was certainly not one of their better performances.

The match was played on a gluepot of a pitch and within minutes the ball was like the proverbial bar of soap. It made handling difficult and both sides were guilty of frequently losing possession.

Keighley were the stronger side and imposed pressure on the Castleford line but they regularly chose the wrong option or dropped the ball at crucial moments. Sarah Cartwright received a pass in space just inside her own half and galloped away for a typical score with Laura Ackroyd adding the conversion.

Keira Burns and Jodie Billing linked well to send in Sarah Shillito for another try and Billing also went over. Both tries were converted by Ackroyd. Cartwright followed up with the best try of the match.

The second half started brightly with Sarah Gatenby going over almost from the kick off, Ackroyd again converting. But Keighley reverted to their bad habits and squandered too much possession. Castleford reduced the arrears with a solitary try before the Cats stepped up the pressure again.

Angie Pickard, their best forward, scored a well worked try and Cartwright completed a fine hat-trick. By now the pitch was deteriorating rapidly and the referee blew up early to prevent serious injury.

On Sunday they take on Slaithwaite in the Challenge Cup semi-final at 2pm at Marley.