The BBC picked the sixth round tie between Castleford Tigers and Salford Red Devils as their flagship Saturday afternoon encounter and few would argue that on paper it appeared to be one of the ties of the round.

Salford, still smarting from their six point league deduction for a salary cap breach, would be looking to ease past a Castleford Tigers side decimated by injury. The Tigers would be looking to a makeshift half-back pairing of Millington and McShane, two players more accustomed to packing down in the front row of the pack.

Salford opened the scoring on eight minutes through try machine Junior Sa'u who went thirty metres from acting half-back after a quick play the ball from Justin Carney. Gareth O'Brien kicked the extras for a 6-0 lead.

It took four minutes for the Tigers to get back on level terms. As a Hampshire high kick was caught by Joel Monaghan, it was knocked out of his hands and back towards his own line by Sa'u and picked up by Mike McMeeken to walk in. Paul McShane kicked the conversion.

With the game becoming increasingly end-to-end it was the visitors who managed to breach the Tigers line on twenty-seven when Junior Sa'u picked up a Robert Lui grubber to ground and when O'Brien converted the Red Devils re-established their six point lead.

But it was soon back to all square when a delightful kick to the corner from Paul McShane was caught in flight by Denny Solomona and passed back to Jake Webster for a try from two metres out. McShane hit the target from the touchline and the scoreline confirmed that there was very little between these two sides in a very competitive game.

Three minutes before the interval and a Monaghan break saw the Tigers winger find McMeeken in support to run down the outside and cross for his second of the afternoon. McShane kicked another touchline conversion for 18-12 and give the home side the lead for the first time in the game.

Denny Solomona looked to benefit from a controversial refereeing decision after Paul McShane picked up a grubber to pass to the Tigers winger for him to score in the corner. The video seemed to show that Solomona didn't ground the ball but a TRY was given. McShane failed with the conversion, but with two minutes of the second half complete the Tigers were ten points clear.

Robert Lui was next to score when on forty-eight he used all his strength to push over and score one-handed despite the attention of three tacklers. O'Brien added an extra two points with the boot for 22-18 and it was all to play for.

A brilliant solo effort from Paul McShane, pushing off tacklers and dancing around the defence, saw him score from ten metres out. The stand in scrum-half then added the extras and the margin was back to ten.

On seventy-four Denny Solomona sealed the Tigers win with a length of the field intercept try picking off a Dobson pass. McShane again failed to add the extras but it mattered little leaving Salford the task of needing to score three tries in four minutes.

As the second half clock ran down Castleford Tigers tightened their grip on the game and spend long periods of the game camped on the Red Devils half. The win could have been larger had it not been for a couple of video referee decisions, but in the end it was a comfortable, if hard fought at times, fourteen point victory for a weakened Tigers outfit.

Tigers: Hampshire, Monaghan, Crooks, Webster (T), Solomona (2T), Millington, McShane (T, 4G), Patrick, Milner, Jewitt, Moors, McMeeken (2T), Massey. Subs: Cook, Springer, Hitchcox, Tickle.

Red Devils: O'Brien (3G), Carney, Jones, Sa'u (2T), Vidot, Lui (T), Dobson, Kopczak, Joseph, Griffin G, Murdoch-Masila, Hauraki, Flanagan. Subs: Walne J, Evalds, Walne A, Krasni.

Referee: James Child.

Attendance: 3,317