Tigers in a derby blitz
CASTLEFORD ran in eight tries to win 46-20 at neighbours Wakefield and move above their west Yorkshire rivals in the Super League table.
The hosts led 16-10 at the break following two tries from centre Joe Arundel and another by stand-off Jacob Miller.
Castleford had mustered two first-half scores by Greg Minikin and Oliver Holmes
But they added six more after the break through Andre Savelio, Luke Gale – who also kicked seven goals – Junior Moors, Ryan Hampshire, Minikin and Holmes.
It was a debut try for forward Savelio, who only joined the Tigers on loan from St Helens on Wednesday.
The Tigers’ storming finish – five of those second-half scores came in 22 minutes – demoralised Wakefield, who could only reply with a try from winger Reece Lyne while Liam Finn failed to add to his two first-half kicks.
Castleford notched a fourth successive derby win and now lie sixth, one place above Wakefield, who can now turn their minds to Saturday’s Challenge Cup semi-final against Warrington when they bid to reach a first Wembley final for 37 years. Stefan Marsh passed the 250-point mark for Widnes in his 100th appearance with a try and a goal as they coasted to a 32-4 victory over Catalans Dragons, consigning the French club to a sixth consecutive defeat.
Corey Thompson put Widnes ahead before Dave Taylor went over for the visitors, but Todd Carney missed the conversion. Patrick Ah Van’s try stretched Widnes’ lead before Thompson’s boot gave them a 14-4 advantage at the break. It was one-way traffic in the second half as Joe Mellor, Aaron Heremaia and Marsh all went over. In the Championship, fallen giants Bradford Bulls suffered an embarrassing 20-0 defeat at Featherstone as they missed out on a place in the qualifiers against the bottom four Super League teams. Kyle Briggs scored a try and kicked four goals with the other Featherstone tries coming from Anthony Thackeray and Andy Ellis.