Cas earn bragging rights in Wakefield derby
A dominant first-half performance saw Castleford run out comfortable 42-24 winners against Wakefield at Belle Vue, collecting another two points and retaining the Adam-Watene Trophy.
The trophy was named after the late prop, who played for both teams and was donated for designated matches between the two sides after the New Zealander passed away in 2008.
The win, which is the Tigers’ fourth in a row, moves them two points clear at the top of the Super League table whilst Wakefield remain in fifth place.
Castleford head coach Daryl Powell made just two changes to the starting 13 which won comfortably at Wigan last week, Andy Lynch and Gadwin Springer coming into the pack in place of Nathan Massey and Matt Cook. Lynch’s inclusion saw him move into second place on the all-time Super League appearances list with 440.
There was also a place for Grant Millington on the bench, after the forward passed a head test following his absence last week.
The only change for the visitors, who came into the game with three consecutive victories, saw half-back Jacob Miller earn a spot in the starting 13 – reaching his 100th appearance in the British game – as Liam Finn dropped to the bench.
Wakefield boss Chris Chester will have been relieved to have Anthony England back in the Trinity squad, who was named on the bench, after missing the past month following foot surgery.
Chester saw his side take an early lead, David Fifita powering over in the corner after Castleford let Sam Williams’ kick bounce. The Trinity half-back slotted the conversion to put his team 6-0 in front.
The visitors were ahead for just six minutes, Ben Roberts and Mike McMeeken with a quick exchange of passes before the former weaved through the Trinity line and dived across.
Wakefield were made to pay for Scott Grix’s kick going out on the full as the Tigers went up the other end where Roberts fed Jake Webster to push the visitors in front before Luke Gale added the extras.
Tom Johnstone spurned a prime opportunity to capitalize on Joel Monaghan’s failure to stay in touch when trying to catch Jacob Miller’s kick, as he fumbled Grix’s pass a few metres from the line.
The next try was scored by Castleford and it came about after Gale landed a 40/20 kick. Moments later the Tigers half-back found Oliver Holmes, who raced across the whitewash.
Wakefield struggled to handle Cas as the half progressed, Millington scoring a fourth successive try for the visitors after Trinity conceded two penalties in as many minutes.
Powell will have been frustrated with how the visitors scored their second try. Bill Tupou beat Zak Hardaker in the air to catch Miller’s kick and ground the ball, but moments before Gale was controversially penalized for a forward pass to Holmes.
Millington had Junior Moors to thank for his second try of the game, the front rower making a barnstorming run to move within metres of the whitewash during the build-up.
Webster registered his second try three minutes before the break, running over with ease after Gale demonstrated exquisite footwork to bypass several Wakefield defenders.
There was a moment of good fortune for the hosts when Joel Monaghan’s try was disallowed because the pass he had received from Roberts was ruled forward.
Fifita then came up with another powerful run before shrugging off Hardaker to go over for his second four-pointer of the afternoon.
Greg Eden seemed determined to remain as the current top try scorer for the Tigers, coming up with an acrobatic finish in the 63rd minute after being fed by fellow winger Greg Minikin, registering his 12th try this year.
Eden thought he had become the third Castleford player to score a brace, but the try was chalked off because of an obstruction during the build-up.
Trinity managed to break the line once more, Ben Jones-Bishop coming up with a spectacular one-handed finish in the corner despite the best efforts of Minikin to push him into touch.
Finn added the extras, but it didn’t affect the final result as the Tigers secured the two points with ease.