The 1969 Challenge Cup campaign started in the same way as almost every other in the 1960s – with a wave of optimism and an away draw.

Having become one of the best and most consistent teams in the league, Cas fans were ever optimistic that this year would be the year the team would reach Wembley for the first time since 1935. But in the Challenge Cup much depends on the luck of the draw, and Cas hadn’t been drawn at home since 1963. Over the last six years their hopes of reaching Wembley had ended in hard fought defeats at places such as St Helens, Warrington and Wakefield. And 1969 was no different as the First Round draw produced a 12th consecutive away tie, this time at Hunslet. Although Hunslet had reached the final as recently as 1965 they were now in decline and most experts were confident of a Castleford win.

However, as Cas fans will know, nothing is ever straightforward. In a league match at Leeds the previous Boxing Day Alan Hardisty had suffered a broken arm, winger Alan Lowndes damaged ankle ligaments and Clive Dickinson suffered a head injury. Keith Hepworth was already out with a chest injury and Bill Bryant had been a long-term absentee with a broken leg. To make matters worse, winger Jack Austin then fractured his knee-cap in a home league game against Batley on 3rd January. Bryant had returned to action with the ‘A’ team and hopes were high that he would be fit for the cup tie. But his bad luck continued when he broke the leg again – for the third time in his career – only three minutes into a league game at Keighley just four days before the match. On the same day, the club’s playing strength was further weakened when Peter Small, a mainstay of the team throughout the 1960s, was transferred to Hull Kingston Rovers just two hours before the cup transfer deadline.

Understrength

So it was a weakened Castleford team that took the field at Hunslet. Hepworth and Dickinson had returned from injury, but Hardisty, Lowndes, Bryant and Johnny Ward, along with the recently departed Peter Small, were all absent. The three-quarter line included two young players, Derek Foster and Mick Day, who had made only a handful of first team appearances between them.

Castleford: 1 Bedford 2 Briggs 3 Foster 4 Thomas 5 Day 6 Edwards 7 Hepworth 8 Hartley 9 Dickinson 10 Fox 11 Redfearn 12 Lockwood 13 Reilly Subs: 14 Hargrave 15 McKalroy (both unused)

Hunslet: 1 Marshall 2 Hurl 3 Clark 4 Chamberlain 5 Thompson 6 Morgan 7 Williams 8 Larkin 9 Maskill 10 Slatter 11 Gaines 12 Gunney 13 Walker Sub: 14 Simpson (for Chamberlain) 15 Sanderson

Referee: J Manley (Warrington)

Attendance: 5,400

But the Cas faithful needn’t have worried. No fewer than three times in the first half hour, Foster made breaks that could easily have resulted in tries. But as it was, despite winning the majority of the scrums, just four points – a Redfearn penalty and a Reilly drop goal – separated the teams as half time approached. But then a Hepworth pass put Redfearn over for a try, which he converted, to give Cas a 9-0 half time lead. With young back-row forwards Mick Redfearn, Brian Lockwood and Malcolm Reilly in dominant form and Foster running strongly in only his fourth appearance of the season, Cas were now in full control. Hepworth scored the first try of the second half before, with the score at 14-2, a breakaway try by Hunslet gave them renewed hope. However, Tony Thomas made sure of victory with a try in the 71st minute and Redfearn’s conversions plus a Keith Hepworth drop-goal secured a comfortable 19-7 win.