Castleford Tigers hooker Daryl Clark scored three sparkling tries to help the Tigers to a 20-40 victory over Widnes Tigers at the Select Security Stadium.
The Tigers got off to a blistering start, with three tries in the first ten minutes to Luke Dorn, Oliver Holmes and Clark, with Marc Sneyd converting all three.
The Vikings got onto the scoreboard with a try from Paddy Flynn that came from great play by Kevin Brown, with Danny Tickle adding a superb touchline conversion.
And when the Vikings score a second try after 32 minutes, with Brown again providing the assist for Danny Galea to touch down, Tickle’s goal reduced the deficit to six points.
However, the Tigers took a ten-point lead into the interval when Michael Shenton touched down, with Sneyd missing the conversion for the first time.
In the early stages of the second half Widnes battled to get back into the game, and they were rewarded when Patrick Ah Van touched down on 50 minutes, with Tickle missing the conversion and the game finely poised at 16-22.
But in the final 20 minutes the Tigers came storming home, with Clark scoring from his own break, and then Shenton touching down after backing up a break by Weller Hauraki and Clark adding his third after stealing the ball and dashing 60 metres to touch down. Sneyd converted each try to put the Tigers on 40.
Chris Dean scored a late consolation try for the Vikings with three minutes remaining, and Ah Van couldn’t add the conversion.
It was a convincing Tigers victory that takes them to second in the table and will fill them with confidence for the forthcoming Challenge Cup semi-final against the same opponents next month.
A full report and photographs from tonight’s game will feature in Monday’s edition of Rugby League Express, available in the shops and online in digital form.
