WARRINGTON WOLVES 34 CASTLEFORD TIGERS 24
DAVE PARKINSON, Halliwell Jones Stadium, Friday
WARRINGTON warmed up for their Wembley Cup final appearance with a solid home win over a Castleford side that paid the price for a lukewarm start.
Warrington made hay early on when smart link-up down the right saw Matt Dufty hand the ball to Josh Thewlis and he finished in the corner. Marc Sneyd couldn’t goal but the Wire led 4-0.
Castleford were their own worst enemies, and, after spilling the ball in their own half, Warrington took control.
Paul Vaughan was stopped short before a sweeping play left saw Dufty link with Arron Lindop and the young centre fired the ball out for Jake Thewlis to score in the left corner. Sneyd goaled from the touchline and Wire now led 10-0.
Warrington flooded forward again and an intelligent kick from Stefan Ratchford was touched down by Rodrick Tai, grounding ahead of Louis Senior. Sneyd added his second goal of the night and the hosts looked comfortable, 16-0 in front after 20 minutes.
A great break by Tex Hoy fired the Tigers up with Louis Senior carrying on the move before Tai wrapped him up. Dajaern Asi then made a half break but his pass was recovered by the Wolves as Castleford lost Alex Mellor to an HIA.
The Tigers hit back just before the half-hour though when Rowan Milnes dabbed a low kick through and George Lawler was on hand to dot down. Milnes also converted and it was 16-6.
Normal service was restored four minutes later, however, when Dufty’s bullet-pass hit Lindop on a fantastic line for four points. Sneyd goaled.
Just as news filtered through about Mellor’s failed HIA, Max Wood thundered down the ground, and as time ticked down on the half, Wire pushed for a fifth score but when Zac Cini picked up the ball, they had to be content with a 22-6 advantage at the break.
Moments into the second half, the ever-impressive Dufty saw a try correctly ruled out after an excellent chase into the corner, but the hosts weren’t to be denied when a clever kick toward the posts from Sneyd was chased through and grounded by Ben Currie as the scoreboard ticked on again after 54 minutes.
There was a real lull in the game before Milnes dummied, then fired a superb pass out to Lawler for him to grab his second try after 64 minutes with Milnes’ second conversion making it 28-12.
Just as Warrington began to step things up, Milnes cut off a Sneyd kick brilliantly and less than a minute later Castleford had their third try when Innes Senior dived athletically into the corner having been handed the ball by brother Louis. Milnes’ third goal closed the deficit to ten points.
But Warrington took their score past 30 points when Vaughan linked with Dufty and he in turn sent Ratchford through to score the points that took him above Iestyn Harris in the Super League points table, on his 350th appearance for the club.
Ratchford also goaled to stretch the lead to 34-18.
Just before the final hooter Castleford claimed a fourth try with good hands being rewarded with a score for Josh Simm which was converted by Milnes, but the night belonged to the Wolves.
GAMESTAR: Matt Dufty had all the class on the night.
GAMEBREAKER: Stefan Ratchford’s try made sure of the win for Warrington.
HIGHLIGHT REEL: Stefan Ratchford’s try to crown his 350th Warrington appearance.
ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Matt Dufty (Warrington)
2 pts Max Wood (Warrington)
1 pt George Lawler (Castleford)
MATCHFACTS
WOLVES
1 Matt Dufty
2 Josh Thewlis
33 Arron Lindop
4 Rodrick Tai
28 Jake Thewlis
19 Stefan Ratchford
35 Marc Sneyd
13 Luke Yates
14 Sam Powell
10 Paul Vaughan
21 Adam Holroyd
12 Lachlan Fitzgibbon
11 Ben Currie
Subs (all used)
8 James Harrison
15 Joe Philbin
24 Max Wood
34 Ben Hartill
18th man (not used)
22 Tom Whitehead
Also in 21-man squad
3 Toby King
17 Jordy Crowther
26 Dan Russell
Tries: Josh Thewlis (10), Jake Thewlis (15), Tai (19), Lindop (34), Currie (54), Ratchford (73)
Goals: Sneyd 4/5, Ratchford 1/1
TIGERS
1 Tex Hoy
24 Josh Simm
3 Zac Cini
22 Louis Senior
5 Innes Senior
6 Daejarn Asi
7 Rowan Milnes
38 Brad Singleton
42 Chris Atkin
35 Dan Okoro
10 George Lawler
12 Alex Mellor
9 Liam Horne
Subs (all used)
19 Sam Hall
15 George Griffin
26 George Hill
39 Hugo Salabio
18th man (not used)
16 Cain Robb
Also in 21-man squad
13 Joe Westerman
14 Judah Rimbu
18 Josh Hodson
Tries: Lawler (30, 64), I Senior (69) Simm (80)
Goals: Milnes 4/4
SCORING SEQUENCE: 4-0, 10-0, 16-0, 16-6, 22-6; 28-6, 28-12, 28-18, 34-18, 34-24
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Wolves: Matt Dufty; Tigers: George Lawler
Penalty count: 7-4
Half-time: 22-6
Referee: Marcus Griffiths
Attendance: 8,625
