WARRINGTON WOLVES thrashed Castleford Tigers 38-0 to maintain their ascendancy at the top of the Super League table.
Sam Kasiano opened the scoring in the eighth minute, crashing over from short range as Stefan Ratchford converted for a 6-0 lead.
Despite keeping the visitors out, a howler of a pass from Greg Eden across the face of his line enabled Matty Russell to pounce for his first try back in Warrington colours. Ratchford converted for a 12-0 lead as the midway point in the first-half passed.
It was easy for the Wolves and Thomas Mikaele barged his way through in customary fashion moments later. Ratchford converted from under the sticks to make it 18-0.
Russell grabbed his second, flying in at the corner despite appearing to lose the ball as Ratchford once more converted for a 24-0 lead at the break.
It was only a matter of time before Warrington had another in the second-half and this time it was Paul Vaughan who stretched over to notch his third try of the season.
Ratchford somehow missed the conversion, but the visitors were now 28-0 up as the clock hit 52 minutes.
Williams was the next on the board with a deserved effort after a simple run-around score, but Ratchford again missed the conversion.
Matt Dufty got in on the act just after the hour following a brilliant Matty Nicholson break with Ratchford converting to make it 38-0.
As Warrington relented, Castleford had opportunities to score, but the Wolves’ defence stood firm as the Tigers’ woeful start to the 2023 season continued.
Castleford Tigers
2 Greg Eden
5 Bureta Faraimo
17 Jack Broadbent
3 Jordan Turner
31 Jason Qareqare
6 Gareth Widdop
7 Jacob Miller
14 Nathan Massey
9 Paul McShane (C)
22 Daniel Smith
16 Adam Milner
12 Alex Mellor
13 Joe Westerman
Substitutes
10 George Griffin
11 Kenny Edwards
19 Albert Vete
32 Liam Watts
Warrington Wolves
1 Matt Dufty
34 Matty Russell (D)
21 Greg Minikin
4 Stefan Ratchford (C)
5 Matty Ashton
6 George Williams
3 Peter Mata’utia
10 Paul Vaughan
9 Daryl Clark
18 Thomas Mikaele
11 Ben Currie
12 Matty Nicholson
14 Sam Kasiano
Substitutes
15 Joe Philbin
16 Danny Walker
17 Gil Dudson (D)
24 Luke Thomas
Tries: Kasiano, Russell 2, Mikaele, Vaughan, Williams, Dufty
Goals: Ratchford 5/7