Reserves record Century against Cas
- Match Report as Wigan Warriors Reserves run riot against Castleford Tigers at Robin Park Arena.
- Wigan scored 18 tries in a relentless performance on home turf.
- FT | Wigan Warriors Reserves 100-0 Castleford Tigers Reserves.
Match Report as Wigan Warriors Reserves thundered to a huge 100-0 victory over Castleford Tigers at Robin Park Arena on Wednesday evening.
Both sides featured a mix of Super League experience with Brad Martin and Cheyse Blair for the Tigers and the quintet of Umyla Hanley, Sam Halsall, Logan Astley, James McDonnell and Matty Nicholson for the Warriors.
Wigan ran in 18 tries on the evening as they were unphased by the Castleford defence.
Report
Wigan flew out of the blocks as Ben O’Keefe dashed down the wing to cross for the opening try inside three minutes but was unable add the conversion at 4-0. The next attack saw a superb cross-field kick swept out of the air by Tom Mitchell who dived over for a try which O’Keefe improved for a 10-0 lead.
Junior Nsemba made the most of a gap in the Tigers line to cross for a try on 14 minutes and O’Keefe converted for 16-0 before the visitors were helpless to deny Matty Nicholson as he backed up his recent brace against Huddersfield with a dash down the middle to score with O’Keefe kicking for 22-0.
Wigan’s attacking pace seemed to be the key undoing of the Tigers defence and it was clear to see when Adam Jones broke through the line and utilised the support of Mitchell who collected an offload to claim his second try of the game, converted for 28-0. Toby Brannan crossed on the half hour mark after a clever passing play and O’Keefe sealed his fourth success with the boot for a 34-0 advantage.
Wigan completed a stunning first half with a late double as James McDonnell latched onto a chipped kick to touch down and Nsemba claimed his second try by collecting a short pass with O’Keefe improving both for a huge 46-0 lead into the half-time interval.
The Tigers barely had time to action any half-time plans as Wigan resumed the scoring spree with a quick offload from Logan Astley finding the run of Sam Halsall who collected and crossed for a try before completing a ten minute hat-trick with two superb efforts on the left edge with O’Keefe converting the latter score for 54-0.
O’Keefe claimed his second try of the evening after capitalising on a short restart to race down the wing for 64-0 and then on the hour mark, Max Wood went in for a try after collecting a pass from McDonnell and O’Keefe kicked the lead to 70-0.
Wigan’s offload skill continued to impress as Kieran Tyrer benefitted to cross for a try which O’Keefe improved for 76-0 before a short-kick off from the Tigers resulted in a double offload which allowed Halsall to cross for his fourth try of the evening with O’Keefe reaching ten successes from the kicking tee to extend the lead to 82-0.
Nicholson and Tyrer both utilised gaps in the tiring Tigers defence to claim their second tries of the match with Tyrer finishing off a clever passing play and O’Keefe converted both efforts to make it 94-0. The final minute of the action saw a superb fifth try for Halsall as he collected a chip kick to touch down and O’Keefe rounded off a fine evening with the boot with a lucky 13th success as his conversion pinged in off the post for 100-0.
Gallery:
Wigan Warriors: Umyla Hanley, Tom Mitchell, Alex Sutton, Sam Halsall, Ben O’Keefe, Adam Jones, Logan Astley, Jack Bibby, Tom Forber, Harvie Hill, Junior Nsemba, James McDonnell, Matty Nicholson.
Interchanges: Toby Brannan, Ramon Silva, Max Wood, Kieran Tyrer.
Tries: O’ Keefe (4′, 55′) Mitchell (8′, 27′), Nsemba (14′, 40′), Nicholson (22′, 70′), Brannan (31′), McDonnell (37′), Halsall (42′, 44′, 53′, 64′, 77′) Wood (60′), Tyrer (62′, 74′).
Goals: O’Keefe 14/18
Castleford Tigers: Cain Robb, Alfie Mitchell, Jamie Mvula, Caleb Stanley, Abdullah Balogun, Charlie Harris, Calvin Sandhu, Kieran Hudson, Chris Cullimore, Brad Martin, Cheyse Blair, Josh Thornton, Danny Atley.
Interchanges: Toby Millinson, Anthony Boardman, Callum Beety, Alfie Dean.
