Pictures Eddie Whitham
WARRINGTON Wolves secured a fourth straight win in treacherous conditions at Castleford on Easter Monday.
A sodden pitch which was covered in standing water greeted the Wolves and they bravely dug out an 18-6 victory.
There were concerns that the pitch wouldn’t be fit for the game, though the hosts will have been desperate for the game to go ahead having already had two games postponed this season.
Indeed the Wolves warmed up outside the ground on the pitch behind the main stand, with two changes from Friday’s win over Widnes, Ryan Atkins and Dom Crosby coming in for Bryson Goodwin and Morgan Smith.
Perhaps a sign of what was to come came when Stefan Ratchford’s kick off was allowed to skid out off the water to put the hosts under early pressure.
It was 20 minutes before the scoreboard was called in to action, Stefan Ratchford knocking over a penalty from 25 metres.
He added a second penalty two minutes before the end of the first half to double the Wolves lead, but they managed to get the first try of the game right on the hooter, Toby King going over off the inside of Josh Charnley.
Ratchford converted and the Wolves led 10-0 at the break.
Castleford got themselves back in to the contest on 52 minutes when Oliver Holmes got on the end of Luke Gale’s kick, Gale adding the conversion for 10-6.
A third Ratchford penalty 10 minutes from time made that 12-6 and meant that Castleford would need two scores to win the game.
In the end it would be the Wire that added the only further score, Daryl Clark going over from dummy half against his former club.
A cheeky winning grin from Josh Charnley – Picture Eddie Whitham
Muddy marvel – Daryl Clark had a winning return to t he Jungle Picture Eddie Whitham
Tom Lineham ventures out of the deep end! Picture Eddie Whitham
Toby King splashed down! Picture Eddie Whitham
Toby King is completely submerged Picture Eddie Whitham
Toby King comes up for air Picture Eddie Whitham
Castleford: Trueman, Minikin, Webster, Shenton, Clare, Roberts, Gale, Massey, McShane, Watts, Holmes, McMeeken, Milner. Subs: Moors, Millington, Foster, Cook.
Warrington: Ratchford, Lineham, Atkins, T King, Charnley, K Brown, Roberts, Hill, Clark, Cooper, Currie, Hughes, Westwood. Subs: Murdoch-Masila, Philbin, Crosby, Akauola.
Got to go for the splash dive when it’s like this…@TobyKing96 makes the most of the conditions to score for @wolvesrl 🌧🌧 pic.twitter.com/k12i54lXzQ
Top away day win 💪🏼 2/2 over Easter can not grumble at that 🏉#WireAwayDays #LoveThis pic.twitter.com/iFiiXIBtPs
— Matt Wilko (@wirewilko) April 2, 2018
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) April 2, 2018
🗣Steve Price: “It was tough going out there for the boys with the playing conditions.
Top away day win 💪🏼 2/2 over Easter can not grumble at that 🏉#WireAwayDays #LoveThis pic.twitter.com/iFiiXIBtPs
— Matt Wilko (@wirewilko) April 2, 2018
“It was a tough battle and it’s good to come away with the two points.” pic.twitter.com/kaktcCFhfc
— Warrington Wolves (@wolvesrl) April 2, 2018
“I’ve never played in conditions like that before! We targeted two wins over Easter and this will boost us.”
Hear from the skipper @Chrishilly1987 following today’s win over Cas pic.twitter.com/65QwvA22Zd
— Warrington Wolves (@wolvesrl) April 2, 2018
