Salford 12-18 Castleford

Shaun McRae’s 400th game in charge ended in defeat as his sides inconsistent form continued with another defeat to the hands of play-off chasing Castleford Tigers who moved back into the play-off places temporarily.

Victory sees the Tigers rise to sixth in the table behind rivals Wakefield, picking up their third consecutive victory after wins against Bradford and Hull.

Both sides were equal in the early stages and the weather conditions of torrential heavy rain played a massive part in the final outcome of the result. It was mistakes galore with the Tigers squandering the best of the early possession.

But they broke the deadlock on 31 minutes when a kick found Brett Ferres to score, and they extended that lead shortly before half-time to score thanks to England centre Michael Shenton. Joe Westerman continued his good kicking form, converting both to give the Tigers a 12-0 advantage at the break.

Richie Myler‘s kick found Dean McGilvray to restore hope, but that was soon extinguished again when Kirk Netherton dived over from dummy half to score the Tigers third try, once again converted by Westerman.

The second-half continued to be as scrappy as the first in poor conditions but Salford managed to reduce the deficit with five minutes remaining when Stefan Ratchford crossed the whitewash to set-up a good finish but it proved to be too little too late.