This match was the most important to date in the club’s short history as a member of the Rugby Football League. Having been surprise semi-finalists in 1929 and having won their first silverware by winning the Yorkshire League Championship in 1932-33, hopes were high that the club could establish itself as one of the leading clubs of the 1930s by reaching the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley this time around.

After beating Astley & Tyldesley and Liverpool Stanley in the first two rounds, reigning cup holders Hunslet were defeated following a titanic battle in the third round, which raised the level of expectation amongst the supporters to fever pitch. Hopes were particularly high as semi-final opponents Barrow hadn’t had the best of seasons and were currently in the lower half of the league table.

Bookings for both rail and road travel were heavy, resulting in a record following for the match. Six specially chartered trains left Castleford to transport 3,200 Castleford fans over the Pennines to Station Road, Swinton to witness the match. One of these was chartered by the Supporters Club and decorated with a sign reading “Super Six Express” – a tribute to the Castleford pack who had overcome the much heralded Hunslet forwards in the previous round. A further train carrying supporters from Knottingley and Pontefract also made the journey, with many busloads of supporters making the journey by road, all hoping for a victory that would take the team to Wembley.

Despite the importance of the match, the team stuck to their usual training routine in the lead up to the semi-final, although one diversion was a visit to the Theatre Royal in Castleford on the night before the match following an invitation from the theatre management.

One slightly worrying issue was that since the 3rd Round win, Castleford had lost all three of their league matches. Jim Crossley had injured his arm in the last of these games and despite hopes that he would be fit for the big game, he missed the semi-final. However, Bernard Cunniffe, who had missed the previous match with an ankle injury, returned to the line-up, enabling the versatile Donald Knowles to switch from the wing to the second row.

Castleford: 1 Lewis 2 Cunniffe 3 Atkinson 4 Croston 5 T C Askin 6 Davies 7 Adams 8 McManus 9 Haley 10 Taylor 11 Knowles 12 Smith 13 Sadler

Barrow: 1 Bennett 2 Johnson 3 Barton 4 Gummer 5 Harris 6 Maddock 7 Little 8 Yarr 9 Martin 10 Skelly 11 Troop 12 Ayres 13 Mattison

Referee: J E Taylor (Wakefield)

Attendance: 24,508

Despite the Castleford fans’ optimism, the match couldn’t have had a worse start. Within the first minute Barrow stand-off-half Maddock received a pass from the base of a scrum and, with the help of his forwards, was able to force his way over the try line for the first try of the match. Troop missed a very kickable conversion, to leave Cas just three points behind. This setback seemed to inspire the Castleford team as they had a spell of sustained pressure near the Barrow line. Adams and Sadler were in the thick of things as Atkinson was twice brought down within inches of the try line. Finally, Adams was able to set Cunniffe away down the wing and he found Knowles in support who cut inside to finish off the move with a fine try. Atkinson missed the conversion but the teams were now level at 3-3. Castleford were now on top and good work from Atkinson, McManus and Cunniffe set up another position near the Barrow line. The ball was then moved swiftly to the other wing where Askin dribbled through to pick up and score close to the posts. Lewis added the conversion to give Cas an 8-3 lead with ten minutes of the first half remaining. Castleford had another chance to extend the lead before half-time but Cunniffe was unable to collect Atkinson’s pass when a try was there for the taking.

The second half started with a penalty attempt by Atkinson hitting the post followed by Lewis narrowly missing a second attempt to extend the lead. Barrow then went close to scoring before a Sadler kick was chased by Askin. He got there in time to kick the ball on, beating Barrow full-back Bennett in the process. Croston, who had been backing up, was able to regather the ball and had a clear run to the line to register the third Castleford try. Although Lewis missed the conversion Castleford now held a potential match-winning 11-3 lead. But Barrow were far from being a spent force and tried all they knew to get back into the game. However, despite producing some slick passing moves, all their efforts yielded was a penalty goal by Troop to reduce the arrears to 11-5. Shortly afterwards, the referee’s whistle signalled the end of the match confirming Castleford’s place in their first ever Challenge Cup Final. Hundreds of fans invaded the pitch to celebrate the team’s success and Castleford captain Arthur Atkinson was chaired off the pitch on their shoulders.