Castleford 16-12 Wigan: Tigers punish indisciplined Warriors
By PA Media
Last Updated: 08/02/20 12:36pm
Castleford punished an indisciplined Wigan to win 16-12 at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle and post back-to-back wins at the start of the Betfred Super League season.
Former Salford winger Derrell Olpherts scored his first try for the club as the Tigers ground out a fifth successive home win over the Warriors, who were always second best.
The victory was a fitting way for Castleford captain Michael Shenton to mark his 300th Super League appearance but it was a major disappointment for his counterpart Sean O'Loughlin, who played the 500th game of his distinguished career.
Other than the occasional flashes of brilliance from exciting Australian Bevan French, Wigan had little to offer in attack against a well-drilled home side, who looked a far more rounded team.
The visitors struggled to contain attacking full-back Jordan Rankin while there was further evidence of the hugely-promising half-back partnership of Jake Trueman and Danny Richardson and a trademark influential performance from Paul McShane.
Castleford coach Daryl Powell handed a debut to Sam Hall in the absence of seven players, including three who suffered concussion in the win over Toronto, while 20-year-old half-back Harry Smith made his first start for Wigan in the absence of Sam Powell.
After testing each other out for the first quarter, Castleford drew first blood when they worked the ball out to the right for Olpherts to touch down on his home debut.
Danny Richardson's touchline goal made it 6-0 and the home side went further in front after 31 minutes when Cheyse Blair, switched to centre in the absence of the suspended Peter Mata'utia, burst clean through the attempted double tackle of Smith and Jake Bibby for a second try straight from a scrum heel.
The otherwise impeccable Castleford defence cracked four minutes before half-time to let substitute forward Liam Byrne in for a try, which was goaled by former Tigers favourite Zak Hardaker, but Richardson made it 12-6 at the break with a penalty.
There was little to choose between the sides and Wigan almost drew level 12 minutes into the second half when second rower Willie Isa got on the end of a grubber from Jackson Hastings but could not control the ball as he attempted to touch down.
Bibby was then inches away from touching down Smith's kick before it rolled dead and Castleford were relieved to receive a penalty for a high tackle by Ethan Havard which enabled Richardson to put his side two scores in front.
Richardson added another penalty two minutes later for a late hit on Liam Watts to make it 16-6 as Wigan's discipline began to slip, although they had the consolation of rounding off the scoring through Joe Burgess' last-minute try.
