Huddersfield 24-0 Castleford
Huddersfield bounced back from their surprise Easter Monday defeat at Salford with a comfortable win over Castleford.
Winger David Hodgson ran in a hat-trick of tries in an uninspiring clash at the Galpharm Stadium.
Struggling Castleford saw their preparations hampered with the news that star pair Joe Westerman and Rangi Chase had been dropped for disciplinary reasons, and they joined injury victims Brent Sherwin, Kirk Dixon and Nathan Massey on the sidelines.
Huddersfield dominated the early exchanges, despite a spirited effort from the Tigers, and broke the deadlock on 14 minutes when Kevin Brown‘s offload triggered a move that involved Lee Gilmour and Paul Whatuira spreading the ball wide for Hodgson’s first.
The score remained at 6-0 for the remainder of the first half, but Hodgson doubled his tally early in the second half, sliding over from close range and he completed his hat-trick when he got on the end of a break by Brown via centre partner Whatuira.
They sealed the win when former Castleford scrum half Danny Brough darted through a gap and fed Luke Robinson to set up Jamahl Lolesi for their fourth and final try.
It was Castleford’s third defeat in eight days and their eighth loss in 11 Super League games this season.
But Huddersfield boss Nathan Brown had sympathy for opposite number Terry Matterson. Brown said: “I understand Terry is getting a hard time from the Cas fans but when you have got all those players watching they are not going to do any good. The blokes that had to stand down have just done the wrong thing.
“I have coached Rangi and he is a good young kid but he has let his team down. Joe Westerman is a kid with all this talent and it bothers you when coaches get put under pressure because blokes with talent don’t do the right thing by their club.
“Terry took that side to the semis last year, but now he’s got half his side watching and everyone wants to give him a hard time. It’s just not right. If some of those blokes pull their heads out of the clouds and have a go every week they will be good players and their club will do well.”