CASTLEFORD TIGERS 18 WARRINGTON WOLVES 48
CALLUM WALKER, OneBore Stadium, Saturday

WARRINGTON didn’t even have to get out of first gear in yet another hammering of lowly Castleford.

Toafofoa Sipley destroyed the Castleford defence whilst Leon Hayes and Toby King ran rings round their opposite numbers.

Besides a three-try Tigers spell in the first half it was all Warrington, who have firmed their grip on fourth place.

For Castleford, Jason Qareqare missed through injury as Tylor Sharpe made a try-scoring debut on the wing. George Lawler, Louis Senior and George Hirst all returned, too.

Meanwhile, Cai Taylor-Wray and Sam Powell came back in for Warrington, as James Bentley and Jordan Crowther dropped out.

Both sides completed their early sets well but it was soft tackling that allowed Adam Holroyd to cross in the eighth minute after Krystian Mapapalangi had knocked on.

Ewan Irwin converted, as he would for all eight Wire tries, and to make matters worse, Daejarn Asi booted the restart out on the full, but the Tigers managed to hold firm this time around.

And Asi recovered from his earlier error to take a neat one-two with Jack Brown, resisting the efforts of Lachlan Webster to cross. Tom Weaver converted expertly from the touchline to make it 6-6.

The Tigers were now on top and, after forcing a six-again, they had their second courtesy of a brilliant Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e pass to flying debutant Sharpe. This time Weaver couldn’t convert, but the hosts led 10-6.

Remarkably, Castleford’s momentum didn’t end there and the hosts made it three tries in eight minutes when Laulu-Togaga’e skipped through paper-thin defence and Weaver made it 16-6.

But, following a successful Captain’s Challenge, Warrington closed the gap as Matty Ashton finished superbly off a Toby King pass.

The game firmly turned on its head shortly after, King playing a delicious one-two with Ashton down the wing as the former crossed under the posts. Irwin sent the Wolves into an 18-16 lead.

Warrington weren’t finished there for the first half either, a dismally poor tackle attempt on Sipley allowing the powerful forward to stretch out as Irwin made it 24-16.

Weaver had the final word of the half with a penalty when Asi was taken late.

The Tigers simply self-imploded immediately following the resumption, however.

First, Hirst conceded a ridiculous six-again on the last tackle before Weaver dropped a Leon Hayes grubber into the arms of James Harrison for another Wolves score.

It was another Hayes kick that yielded more Warrington points moments later too, with Hayes’ own chip causing havoc for Laulu-Togaga’e and the halfback himself pounced.

Ashton grabbed another on 53 minutes before Asi once more sent the restart out on the full.

From another commanding position, the Wolvers almost struck again but this time Ashton was held up.

To make matters worse for the Tigers, Alex Mellor was sin-binned on the hour for a professional foul after Laulu-Togaga’e played the ball to no one.

It was twelve versus twelve moments later as King spent ten minutes in the sin bin for obstructing Jordan Lane, but that merely stemmed an unstoppable tide with Ben Currie rolling out of a tackle with twelve minutes remaining.

Incredibly, Castleford have now conceded 120 points against Warrington in two games after a 72-6 thrashing earlier in the season.

GAMESTAR: Toafofoa Sipley proved unstoppable down the middle.

GAMEBREAKER: Three Warrington tries in 13 minutes straight after half-time subdued the Tigers.

HIGHLIGHT REEL: Tylor Sharpe grabbing a debut Castleford try.

ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Toafofoa Sipley (Warrington)
2 pts Leon Hayes (Warrington)
1 pt Toby King (Warrington)

MATCHFACTS

TIGERS
35 Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e
21 Louis Senior
12 Alex Mellor
23 Krystian Mapapalangi
40 Tylor Sharpe (D)
6 Daejarn Asi
7 Tom Weaver
36 Tyler Dupree
9 Liam Hood
10 George Lawler
11 Jordan Lane
39 Jack Brown
13 Joe Stimson
Subs (all used)
8 Renouf Atoni
15 Jack Ashworth
27 Cain Robb
32 George Hirst
18th man (not used)
18 Fletcher Rooney
Also in 21-man squad
22 Jason Qareqare
24 Jenson Windley
25 Sam Hall

Tries: Asi (13), Sharpe (16), Laulu-Togaga’e (21)
Goals: Weaver 3/4
Sin bin: Mellor (60) – professional foul

WOLVES
35 Lachlan Webster
4 Albert Hopoate
26 Josh Smith
3 Toby King
5 Matty Ashton
18 Ewan Irwin
19 Leon Hayes
16 Liam Byrne
9 Danny Walker
21 Luke Thomas
11 Adam Holroyd
10 James Harrison
13 Ben Currie
Subs (all used)
1 Cai Taylor-Wray
14 Sam Powell
15 Toafofoa Sipley
22 Joe Philbin
18th man (not used)
32 Ewan Smith
Also in 21-man squad
7 Marc Sneyd
17 Jordan Crowther
36 Charlie McKler

Tries: Holroyd (8), Ashton (26, 53), King (32), Sipley (36), Harrison (45), Hayes (48), Currie (69)
Goals: Irwin 8/8
Sin bin: King (63) – professional foul

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Tigers: Jack Brown; Wolves: Toafofoa Sipley

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 6-6, 10-6, 16-6, 16-12, 16-18, 16-24, 18-24; 18-30, 18-36, 18-42, 18-48

Penalty count: 4-7
Half-time: 18-24
Referee: Liam Moore