Wakefield beat Castleford to keep pace with leaders

Betfred Super League

Castleford (0) 0

Wakefield (16) 34

Tries: Trueman 2, Hall, Smoothy, Pratt 2, Scott Goals: Jowitt 3

Wakefield Trinity kept pace with the Super League leaders as they cruised to a comfortable derby victory over toothless Castleford Tigers at the OneBore Stadium.

The Tigers were overwhelmed by the visitors' pace and clinical finishing, with Jake Trueman, Corey Hall and Tyson Smoothy all scoring before the break to establish a comfortable 16-point lead.

With the Adam Watene Trophy on the line, Trinity kept up the pressure in the second half, adding further scores through Oliver Pratt, Cam Scott and Trueman, with the Tigers unable to cross the whitewash and now bottom of the table on four points.

A fifth straight win in all competitions meant fourth-placed Wakefield are level on 10 points with Warrington, Leeds, Wigan and St Helens, while Castleford fall to the bottom on points difference.

Looking for a fourth successive league win, Wakefield struck first.

Following a strong carry from Smoothy, Trueman stepped through a hole in the Tigers' defence before carrying two defenders over the line with him.

The visitors were dominant and almost had a second through Pratt, who spilled the ball forward as he competed with Zac Cini for the ball in the air.

Castleford thought they had levelled the scores through Jason Qareqare, but the score was chalked off when the video referee spotted the winger had a foot in touch before he grounded the ball.

Trinity then seized control of the game through the impressive Hall, who stepped past Darnell McIntosh before powering over from short range despite the efforts of Cini.

The Tigers were left to rue another missed opportunity soon afterwards, with Sam Hall losing the ball forward as he reached for the try-line.

Trinity soon made them pay for their profligacy, with Smoothy going over after a rampaging drive from debutant Tray Lolesio.

Unable to make any inroads into the Trinity defence at the beginning of the second half, the Tigers conceded again with Max Jowitt slotting a penalty after Joe Stimson was penalised for infringing at the breakdown.

The full-back was then involved again soon after, feeding the prolific Pratt to dive over in the corner for Trinity's fourth try.

With the home defence wilting, Scott went over untouched for a fifth, before a misplaced pass from the returning Mason Lino found Pratt in space for his second as the Castleford faithful headed for the exits.

There was just time for Trueman to add his second from a counter-attack to cap a miserable Sunday for Ryan Carr's men.

Wakefield Trinity head coach Daryl Powell told BBC Radio Leeds:

"You never get a perfect game but that's as good as we've been this year.

"Towards the end of the second half we looked more clinical and I thought our edge defenders were outstanding.

"The contact side of the game was good – really punchy and aggressive and there were periods where we completely dominated territory and off the back of that errors came [from Castleford]. I thought everybody played well – it's always great to see."

Castleford Tigers head coach Ryan Carr told BBC Radio Leeds:

"Until [Jason] Qareqare's try was disallowed, it felt like a close fight and then for whatever reason momentum swung against us and too many people became victims and felt sorry for themselves in that moment.

"It's concerning that certain individuals can play the way they played 10 days ago [against Bradford] and then today look like different people. It's something I've got to get to the bottom of.

"Physically we got dominated, with the ball, without the ball – they kept us pinned on our try-line and we couldn't find a penalty or earn one. A tough day for us."

Castleford: Cini; Thewlis, McIntosh, Mapapalangi, Qareqare; Asi, Weaver; Lawler, Forber, Westerman, Lane, Mellor, Stimson.

Interchanges: Doolan, Hall, Atoni, Beckett.

Wakefield: Jowitt; Pratt, Scott, Hall, Johnstone; Trueman, Lino; McMeeken, Smoothy, Rodwell, Vagana, Storton, Pitts.

Interchanges: Nikotemo, Hamlin-Uele, Smith, Lolesio.

Referee: Liam Rush.