Warriors beat Tigers

• Match Report as Wigan Warriors beat Castleford Tigers at the DW Stadium on Thursday night.
• The Warriors ran in five tries to take the win on Thursday evening.
• FT | Wigan Warriors 32-22 Castleford Tigers.

Ethan Havard made a scoring return in Cherry & White, as Liam Farrell added a double in a winning performance at the DW Stadium on Thursday evening.

A closely contested first half saw Castleford open the scoring before tries from Zak Hardaker and Liam Farrell gave them the half time lead.

Wigan scored three in quick succession to start the second half as Ethan Havard made a scoring start to 2022, before Jai Field and Liam Farrell added to the tally. The visitors scored three in 10 minutes in response to pile the pressure on Wigan but two penalty goals late on from Hardaker sealed a 32-22 win.

Report

Matt Peet introduced Sam Halsall in the starting line-up as Ethan Havard returned to action after a lengthy lay off following a back operation.

Castleford had the best of the early moments as they had a spell deep in the Wigan half. Jake Mamo was close to opening the scoring after four minutes but Wigan did just enough to wrap him up to deny him the score over the line. The visitors did open the scoring in the 8th minute however, opting to take the penalty goal after a Wigan offside, O’Brien adding the two points.

Wigan responded immediately however, getting themselves in some good space upfield and shifting the ball to the right edge for Zak Hardaker to dive over in the corner and despite being short with the conversion, he took his total points tally for the Warriors to 500.

The Warriors were in control for a period then, Cade Cust tried a cross-field kick to Sam Halsall but under pressure the centre couldn’t keep hold of the ball. Wigan were in again in the 22nd minute as Jai Field broke the line and raced away, the full back sent the supporting Farrell to score under the sticks, converted by Hardaker for 10-2.

Castleford took back some control after the score, asking lots of questions of the Warriors as they forced back-to-back goal line drop outs and their pressure told as Greg Eden flew down the left edge to get the score and reduce the deficit to 10-6 at the half time break.

It was a much more clinical start for the Warriors who went over 5 minutes after the restart, Ethan Havard going over on his first start in 2022, to the delight of the DW Stadium crowd. Hardaker converted once more for 16-6.

Minutes later Jai Field added his usual flair, collecting the ball deep inside his own half and racing away and scoring a fantastic individual effort, that was before Liam Farrell crashed over for his second effort of the game, both scores were converted by Hardaker to take the scores out to 28-6.

Castleford got themselves one back in the 57th minute as George Griffin found some space, after a check from the video referee the try was awarded and a successful conversion from O’Brien took the scores to 28-12 with 20 minutes on the clock.

Castleford set alarm bells ringing for Wigan as Jake Trueman stretched out an arm to score in the 65th minute, O’Brien added another conversion to make it 28-18. The Tigers added another two minutes later, Jake Mamo collecting a loose pass to dive in at the corner for 28-22.

The Warriors looked to extend their lead and make some breathing space, they came close before a grubber was collected at the back but good back up defence saw them force a goal line drop out. From the drop out Willie Isa ran in the ball but was caught high by Brad Martin who was given a red card by Chris Kendall as the Tigers were left with 12-men for the remainder of the game.

Wigan scored the penalty goal from the incident as Zak Hardaker extended his tally, before another penalty was awarded to Wigan on the right edge, from close range Hardaker’s boot made it 32-22 as Wigan took the win in round six.

Match Gallery:

Wigan Warriors: Jai Field, Zak Hardaker, Kai Pearce-Paul, Sam Halsall, Liam Marshall, Cade Cust, Thomas Leuluai, Morgan Smithies, Sam Powell, Liam Byrne, Liam Farrell, John Bateman, Willie Isa.

Interchanges: Patrick Mago, Harry Smith, Oliver Partington, Ethan Havard.

Tries: Hardaker (11′), Farrell (22′, 55′), Havard (45′), Field (48′)

Goals: Hardaker 6/7

Castleford Tigers: Gareth O’Brien, Derrell Olpherts, Jake Mamo, Mahe Fonua, Greg Eden, Jake Trueman, Paul McShane, George Griffin, George Lawler, Daniel Smith, Cheyse Blair, Kenny Edwards, Joe Westerman

Interchanges: Suaia Matagi, Brad Martin, Bureta Faraimo, Tyla Hepi

Tries: Eden (35′), Griffin (57′), Trueman (65′), Mamo (68′)

Goals: O’Brien 3/5

Sin Bin: Fonua (38′)

Red Card: Brad Martin (73′)

Referee: Chris Kendall

Attendance: 10,042