Round 16
Castleford Tigers 16 l. Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 32

2008 engage English Super League Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: United Kingdom > National > First Grade Competition: engage English Super League

Wakefield make it nine in a row over Castleford
Mon June 9, 2008
Source: www.superleague.co.uk

Challenge Cup semi-finalists Wakefield moved back into the top six in the engage Super League with a ninth successive derby victory over bottom-of-the-table Castleford.

The Tigers battled bravely as they sought to make amends for their 54-16 defeat by the Wildcats in Cardiff, but they could not break their near neighbours' dominance in this fixture as Wakefield ran out 32-16 winners.

Castleford, who dropped former Wakefield prop Michael Korkidas for the second time this season, twice took the lead in an evenly-contested first half to put themselves on course for their first derby win for five years. But Wakefield were the more creative side and thoroughly deserved their third win of the season over the plucky Tigers, with former Castleford winger Damien Blanch crucially scoring two interception tries.

Castleford's makeshift scrum-half Luke Dorn, once more deputising for the injured Brent Sherwin, touched down a grubber kick by his half-back partner Ryan McGoldrick to open the scoring on four minutes. The returning Kirk Dixon added the conversion but the scores were level when Tigers captain Awen Guttenbeil got a boot to a kick from Wakefield's Danny Brough which bounced kindly back into the in-form scrum-half's hands to present him with a fortuitous score.

Castleford went back in front when McGoldrick went on a scything run and took three defenders over the line with him but his good work was undone on 20 minutes when Blanch intercepted his floated pass to race 30 metres for a try. Brough's second conversion gave the Wildcats the lead for the first time and they withstood a tremendous onslaught on their line to score another breakaway try just before the break.

Neat handling from Oliver Wilkes and Tony Martin released winger Sean Gleeson and full-back Matt Blaymire was in support to take his inside pass. Brough's third goal made it 18-10 to the visitors at the break and they looked to have added to their lead early in the second half when Martin won the race to Danny Sculthorpe's kick to the line but slow-motion replays revealed a knock-on.

Castleford took advantage of the let-off by scoring a try against the run of play, Dorn cutting through a gap on the last tackle after winger Michael Wainwright had gone close after a searing break. Dixon's second goal cut the deficit to just two points but the Wildcats were quickly back on the attack and Wilkes was unfortunate not to add a fourth try. The former Widnes and Wigan prop reached the line after a trademark barnstorming run but had the ball stolen from his grasp and had to be content with a penalty which came to nothing.

However, the momentum was clearly with the visitors and it was no surprise when they eventually added to their lead, even if it came in somewhat bizarre circumstances. Hooker Sam Obst was put into a gap by Brough's short pass and the supporting Gleeson was brought down just short of the line, losing the ball in the process. However, the ball was played on by defender Wainwright and Rooney followed up to grab the vital touch.

Castleford never gave up but Blanch came up with his second interception to finally kill off their hopes in the closing stages and Brough took his goal tally to six from seven attempts.

Castleford 16
Tries: L Dorn 2, R McGoldrick 1
Goals: K Dixon 2

Wakefield Trinity 32
Tries: D Blanch 2, M Blaymire 1, J Rooney 1, D Brough 1
Goals: D Brough 6

Report Source: www.superleague.co.uk

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