CASTLEFORD TIGERS 20 WARRINGTON WOLVES 14
CALLUM WALKER, Mend-A-Hose Jungle, Sunday
CASTLEFORD ripped up the formbook to eke out a tremendous victory over a lacklustre Warrington who couldn’t live with their opponents’ power – led by the destructive Jeremiah Simbiken – and enthusiasm.
Simbiken threw his body on the line, ran fantastic lines and inspired his teammates to dent the Wolves’ top six hopes, with Sam Burgess’ men sitting three points behind Hull FC in sixth.
Sam Hall was absent for the Tigers with Innes Senior returning to the wing as Sam Wood dropped to the bench.
James Harrison and Zack Gardner were out for Warrington, with Toby King and Ewan Irwin coming in.
The Wolves were wasteful early on after Marc Sneyd had booted a precise 40/20, but it was Sneyd’s bomb and Fletcher Rooney’s drop that enabled the visitors to strike first as Sam Stone strode through a huge gap on seven minutes. Sneyd made it 6-0.
Credit to Castleford, however, their first attack yielded points. A neat move involving Chris Atkin and Daejarn Asi saw the ever-improving latter dummy his way over. Atkin converted to level the scores at 6-6.
A superb Connor Wrench break should have seen Warrington respond moments later but Rooney read the play well to shut down a potential inside pass to Sneyd. As it was, George Williams’ kick was caught gleefully by Asi.
End-to-end play ensued as Louis Senior split open the Wolves’ defence to take the hosts within striking distance and when Asi’s grubber was missed by Lachlan Fitzgibbon, George Lawler was on hand to dot down. Atkin converted from in front for a 12-6 lead after 20 minutes.
It was Matt Dufty’s turn to this time spill a towering Asi bomb but Zac Cini’s wayward pass found touch instead of Josh Simm.
Errors seemed to pave the way for points and with Atkin being punished for an incorrect play-the-ball, Dufty sent out a wonderful pass for the onrushing Jake Thewlis who finished magnificently with five minutes to go in the half. Sneyd couldn’t convert as the Tigers led 12-10 at the break.
It was nip and tuck at the start of the second half with Castleford successfully challenging a Simm knock-on. Nothing came of that but on the back of a penalty, Atkin rolled the scoreline to 14-10 just before the hour.
Warrington’s captain’s challenge proved inconclusive trying to appeal that penalty, and they were made to pay again on 65 minutes when Simbiken rocked Sneyd to the point at which the halfback lost the ball.
Atkin picked up before feeding Cini who, in turn, offloaded to Simm for a scintillating score. Though the Wolves thought Simbiken had knocked on, video referee Liam Rush disagreed and Atkin converted to make it 20-10.
It didn’t take Warrington long to reply. Neat hands saw Josh Thewlis slide over, only for Alex Mellor to miraculously hold the winger up. However, in the act of doing so, Mellor caught the Wire man around the head to earn himself a yellow card.
From that, Williams’ delicious kick was pounced on by Stefan Ratchford. Irwin couldn’t convert as the Tigers now led just 20-14 with ten minutes remaining.
Asi missed the chance to ensure Warrington had to score twice with a wayward field-goal attempt, but it didn’t matter as the Tigers held on for just their fifth victory of the season, and first under interim coach Chris Chester.
GAMESTAR: Jeremiah Simbiken was unstoppable in defence and imperious going forward.
GAMEBREAKER: Josh Simm’s try proved too much for Warrington to come back from.
HIGHLIGHT REEL: Jeremiah Simbiken’s bonecrunching tackle on Marc Sneyd paved the way for Josh Simm’s score.
ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Jeremiah Simbiken (Castleford)
2 pts Brad Singleton (Castleford)
1 pt Daejarn Asi (Castleford)
MATCHFACTS
TIGERS
23 Fletcher Rooney
24 Josh Simm
3 Zac Cini
22 Louis Senior
5 Innes Senior
6 Daejarn Asi
42 Chris Atkin
41 Tom Amone
10 George Lawler
38 Brad Singleton
11 Jeremiah Simbiken
12 Alex Mellor
13 Joe Westerman
Subs (all used)
4 Sam Wood
15 George Griffin
16 Cain Robb
43 Joe Stimson
18th man (not used)
19 Sam Hall
Also in 21-man squad
7 Rowan Milnes
26 George Hill
35 Dan Okoro
Tries: Asi (12), Lawler (19), Simm (65)
Goals: Atkin 4/4
Sin bin: Mellor (69) – high tackle
WOLVES
1 Matt Dufty
2 Josh Thewlis
20 Connor Wrench
3 Toby King
28 Jake Thewlis
6 George Williams
35 Marc Sneyd
13 Luke Yates
14 Sam Powell
10 Paul Vaughan
38 Sam Stone
12 Lachlan Fitzgibbon
11 Ben Currie
Subs (all used)
15 Joe Philbin
17 Jordy Crowther
19 Stefan Ratchford
36 Ewan Irwin
18th man (not used)
27 Luke Thomas
Also in 21-man squad
24 Max Wood
37 Zack Gardner
39 Tom McKinney
Tries: Stone (7), Jake Thewlis (35), Ratchford (69)
Goals: Sneyd 1/2, Irwin 0/1
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 6-6, 12-6, 12-10; 14-10, 20-10, 20-14
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Tigers: Jeremiah Simbiken; Wolves: George Williams
Penalty count: 5-5
Half-time: 12-10
Referee: Jack Smith
Attendance: 6,384