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Posted: Wednesday 16th June 2021

Derby victory for the Tigers

Castleford Tigers claimed their 15th consecutive win over local rivals Wakefield Trinity at the The Mobile Rocket Stadium thanks to tries from George Griffin, Jordan Turner, Michael Shenton and Peter Mata’utia.

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Daryl Powell was able to bring back some more players from the sidelines with Niall Evalds, Gareth O’Brien, Jordan Turner and Suaia Matagi all coming back into the fold after missing the defeat to Hull FC. Youngster Jason Qareqare who made an instant impact on his debut was named in the Cas squad for the second time and was selected on the bench.

Jesse Sene-Lefao started in the second row to make is 100th appearance in Castleford Tigers colours.

Castleford handed Trinity an opportunity to attack their line in the early stages after Turner fumbled the ball out wide and it was snatched by Wakefield twenty metres from the line. Wakefield went through the phases and the set ended with Mason Lino chipping a ball through, however, it carried to Evalds who collected it.

The away side looked to respond, and it was Danny Richardson who smartly spotted a gap in the Trinity defence, but the door was closed on him, and the scrum half knocked on.

O’Brien was back in the line up and was trying to pull the strings with a couple of dangerous high kicks into Wakefield territory, although unfortunately for the Tigers they were too strong and went out of play.

An excellent 40/20 kick from Richardson got the visitors out of trouble and put them deep into the hosts’ half. O’Brien went closest with a dig for the line, but the ball then fell lose and Wakefield were first to jump on it.

Just before the quarter of an hour mark Wakefield had the best chance of the game so far. Matty Ashurst was released narrowly inside the Cas 20 and found himself in space as he made a burst for the line. Some fantastic covering defence stopped the second row and the Tigers were able to force Wakefield into a penalty to relieve the pressure.

21 minutes into the game the visitors opened the scoring. Richardson forced Wakefield into a drop out and Cas took full advantage with a strong set which put them centimetres away from the line. Paul McShane produced one of his magic kicks through and George Griffin was the man who stretched to touch down. Richardson slotted the extras to take the scores to 6-0.

Cas’ lead did not last long as four minutes later Wakefield levelled the game. A Michael Shenton touch on a Trinity kick towards the corner meant that the visitors had to drop out. Jacob Miller made the Tigers pay as he cut inside to dive over, and Mason Lino added the two points from the tee.

Half an hour in and Cas were presented an opportunity to push towards the line after a David Fifita offside gave them a penalty on halfway. Castleford tried to force their way over with Liam Watts going close, but Wakefield held out as O’Brien pulled up short on the last.

With five minutes to go before the break the Tigers went back in front. After a Max Jowitt high kick went out on the full, Peter Mata’utia broke through and charged forward on a mazy run from his own half and into the Wakefield 20. The centre managed to produce a pass out wide to Turner who barged his way through two Trinity players to finish in the corner. Richardson was not able to convert from the tee from a difficult position out wide.

Just before halftime both Gareth O’Brien and Bill Tupou were forced off with nasty looking injuries and the teams headed into the sheds with the scores at 6 points to 10.

It was a steady start to the second 40 minutes with both sides trading sets without really threatening the try line.

Seven minutes in and Cas were first to go close in the second half. A penalty given against the hosts allowed Cas to get good field position. Nathan Massey was stopped a couple of metres from the line then on the last Castleford spread the play out wide to Derrell Olpherts but his foot went out of touch as he got the ball down.

It was not long before the Tigers were back close to the Trinity line. Cas’ attacking momentum looked to have gone when Evalds had to scurry back to retrieve a lose ball with one tackle to go. Richardson poked a kick towards the try line and it looked like Jowitt would recover the ball, however, the full back could not get hold of it and Shenton pounced to score. Richardson went close from the touchline but could’nt add the extras.

Cas kept the hosts under the cosh as Wakefield were camped on their line but found the Trinity defence harder to get by this time.

Joe Westerman thought he had stopped the pressure on his side when he ripped the ball free from the arms of Daniel Smith but was penalised by the referee inside his own half. The Tigers took full advantage as Mata’utia burst through the middle of two Trinity players five metres out and skidded over to extend Cas’ lead. Richardson missed his conversion for the scores to stay at 6-18.

Wakefield then got themselves up the pitch thanks to a penalty. Westerman offloaded just a metre from the line and Kelepi Tanginoa looked clear in to score but the prop mishandled and knocked on.

The Trinity pressure was turned into a score and got them back in the game with ten minutes left to play. A perfectly weighted kick from scrum half Lino was read by Miller who touched the ball down to claim his brace. Lino was accurate to add the two points.

From the kick off Fifita spilt the ball and Alex Foster was first to react and jump on it which gave Cas a fresh set under 20 metres from the line. Turner looked to take the play out to the far side but elected to hit the short ball to Foster but the referee judged that the ball went forward.

Cas got into Wakefield territory again and set up for a drop goal, however, Kyle Wood raced out quickly to block Richardson’s one point attempt.

Wakefield sniffed an opportunity to level the scores with two minutes remaining. Lino put Reece Lyne free with a reverse pass and the centre then put in a chip towards the goal line but found McShane racing back to slap it out of play.

The Tigers saw the last few moments of the game out and secured the victory over their local rivals.

 

Full-time: Wakefield Trinity 12 – 18 Castleford Tigers

 

Wakefield: Jowitt, Kershaw, Lyne, Tupou, Johnstone, Miller, Lino, Tanginoa, Walker, Arona, Pitts, Ashurst, Westerman

Interchanges: Fifita, Wood, Battye, Arundel

Tries: Miller x2

Conversions: Lino (2/2)

 

Castleford: Evalds, Olpherts, Mata’utia, Shenton, Turner, O’Brien, Richardson, Matagi, McShane, Griffin, Sene-Lefao, Holmes, Massey

Interchanges: Watts, Foster, Smith, Qareqare

Tries: Griffin, Turner, Shenton, Mata’utia

Conversions: Richardson (1/4)