TON OF FUN
Liam into 100 club as he repeats heroics
Castleford 12 Wigan 32
TON-UP star Liam Marshall laid down the law as Wigan reigned supreme.
Castleford were hoping for a Warriors hangover after celebrating last weekend’s Challenge Cup Final win.
But it was the Tigers who fell flat as cup final hero Marshall came up with some champagne rugby.
The 26-year-old winger, whose late try snatched the Cup away from Huddersfield, grabbed his 100th career try in his 100th Super League appearance just before half-time. Soon after the restart, he set up Bevan
French for another try with some fancy footwork that Gareth Southgate and England would have approved of.
And, as Castleford fell apart alarmingly, Marshall grabbed his second touchdown and then even weighed in with a trysaving tackle
on Jake
Trueman.
Marshall (left) said: “Not that I was one of
them, but a few of the lads did not stop drinking until Tuesday, so we knew it was going to be tough.
“Only two cup finalwinning teams in the past 10 years have managed to win their next game, so this result is massive for us.”
Marshall, who found time to sit an accountancy exam in the past fortnight, admitted Wigan needed a gee-up at half-time. Castleford had dominated the opening half hour with tries from Greg Eden and Kenny Edwards.
A yellow card for Mahe Fonua, for kicking Liam Farrell, gifted Wigan a way back in, with Marshall making it 12-4 at the break.
Marshall added: “We had gone into our shell in the first half. At half-time Matty Peet told us to express ourselves. He came up with a game plan and it worked.”
Head coach Peet said: “That’s one I’m really proud of. The two defeats before the cup final were bugging me a bit but today I could see the progress we are making.”
Three tries in nine minutes from French, Abbas Miski and Marshall left sixth-placed Cas looking shell-shocked.
As they floundered, Wigan went for the kill with further tries from Jake Bibby and Farrell, with Harry Smith kicking four goals.
Cas coach Lee Radford said: “I’m deflated. I highlighted before the game that we needed to perform for 80 minutes but we decided to do it for 40 instead.”