Super League: Wakefield Trinity 12-18 Castleford Tigers
- Published
Betfred Super League |
---|
Wakefield (6) 12 |
Tries: Miller 2 Goals: Lino 2 |
Castleford (10) 18 |
Tries: Griffin, Turner, Shenton, Mata'utia Goal: Richardson |
Castleford claimed a deserved Super League derby victory at Wakefield.
Cas took a 10-6 lead into the break thanks to tries from George Griffin and Jordan Turner, either side of Jacob Miller's score for the hosts.
Michael Shenton made the most of a defensive error from Trinity's Max Jowitt and Peter Mata'utia ran in to add to their lead after the break.
Miller's second try got Trinity back in it but the Tigers held out for the two points to end a run of four losses.
The victory also stretched Castleford's winning run over their local rivals to 15 matches.
The win did come at a cost for the Challenge Cup finalists, though, with full-back Gareth O'Brien forced off with an injury before the interval.
Griffin gave the Tigers the lead after Paul McShane's cute grubber kick on the last bounced perfectly for him in the in-goal area.
Miller levelled the scores when he showed good feet to squeeze over despite some desperate last-ditch defence from the visitors.
In-form veteran Turner barged over in the corner after some brilliant work from Warrington-bound Mata'utia to evade some Trinity tacklers and break through the line.
An open half was marred in the final minute when Trinity prop Bill Tupou suffered what looked like a serious knee injury and had to be taken off on a stretcher.
Cas nearly extended their lead just after the restart but a brilliant tackle from Joe Arundel forced Derrell Olpherts into touch as he dived over in the corner.
But it was a defensive aberration that allowed the Tigers in when Jowitt slid past Danny Richardson's scuffed kick through and Shenton picked up the loose ball on the line.
Mata'utia capped an excellent individual showing with the Tigers' fourth try to give Daryl Powell's men breathing room.
However, Mason Lino's clever kick through was touched down under the posts by Miller and Lino kicked the extras to close the gap to six points with 10 minutes to play.
The hosts pushed for a try that could have levelled the scores but Castleford stood up to the late pressure to continue their excellent record against Chris Chester's men.
Wakefield coach Chris Chester:
(On Tupou injury) "He's in a lot of discomfort. I'm not too sure what it is, obviously it's something bad but we'll get it scanned tomorrow.
"I think it's a patella tendon injury. He didn't look great but all the boys got around him in the dressing room and we've got to make sure we give him the support he needs.
"It didn't have any effect on the result. We were our own worst enemies.
Castleford coach Daryl Powell:
(On O'Brien's injury) "Our physio Matty Crowther has been checking his ACL and that looked alright. That's always the worst-case scenario but he felt a little bit better after the game.
"I'm praying that he's alright and he can get back out there as quickly as possible.
"I thought we were tough and we had to be to win the game. We are not all singing and dancing by any means but we were better defensively.
"We won the game and that's the most important thing. We can hopefully start to build some momentum off the back of this and find some fluency."
Wakefield: Jowitt, Kershaw, Lyne, Tupou, Johnstone, Miller, Lino, Tanginoa, Walker, Arona, Pitts, Ashurst, Westerman
Interchanges: Fifita, Wood, Battye, Arundel
Castleford: Evalds, Olpherts, Mata'utia, Shenton, Turner, Richardson, O'Brien, Massey, Sene-Lefao, Holmes, Matagi, McShane, Griffin
Interchanges:Watts, Foster, Smith, Qareqare