WARRINGTON Wolves’ hopes of reaching the Super League play-offs took a hit with a 20-14 defeat at lowly Castleford.
Chasing a fourth consecutive win to keep up the pressure on the top six, Sam Burgess’ side went down at a sodden Mend-a-Hose Jungle despite getting off to a bright start.
After getting on top of the Tigers in the opening exchanges they took the lead when Ben Currie fed Sam Stone to score his first Warrington try on eight minutes.
But Castleford turned the tide and started to control the momentum of the game, levelling the scores when Daejarn Asi dummied from 15 metres out and had enough to find his way over the line under some attention.
Connor Wrench bombed a certain try for Warrington off a break down the left, deciding not to pass to the supporting Marc Sneyd on his inside shoulder, and instead being tackled by Fletcher Rooney.
The Wolves were made to pay when at the other end, George Lawler touched down in goal after Lachlan Fitzgibbon missed Asi’s short kick under the posts.
The visitors at least dragged themselves back within two points by half time at 12-10, Jake Thewlis finishing in the left corner after Warrington had enjoyed some pressure on the line off the back of Castleford errors. Having named two backs on the bench, their rotations were hurt by an injury to Jordy Crowther on the stroke of half-time.
The second half was a cagey affair largely played in the middle third of the pitch in the rainy conditions as both sides struggled for any attacking inspiration.
Such was the nature of the game, that when Castleford got a penalty for Fitzgibbon’s accidental offside from Josh Thewlis’ knock-on, they decided to take the two from bang in front of the posts to make it 14-10.
The game breaking moment came on 66 minutes, a tackle from Jeremiah Simbiken on Marc Sneyd forcing the ball loose, scooped up by Atkin, who helped it on to Zac Cini to find Josh Simm to race home.
Recovering a 10 point deficit always felt like being a tall order for Warrington, and so it proved. They did get a try back through Stefan Ratchford, moments after Josh Thewlis had been held up over the line after being caught high in an incident that saw Alex Mellor sinbinned and some Wolves fans calling for a penalty try, but it wasn’t enough.
Young half-back Ewan Irwin came on late on, but his pass to release Lachlan Fitzgibbon was deemed forward and that was that.
Castleford: Rooney, Simm, Cini, L Senior, I Senior, Asin, Atkin, Amone, Lawler, Singleton, Simbiken, Mellor, Westerman. Interchanges: Wood, Griffin, Robb, Stimson.
Warrington: Dufty, Josh Thewlis, Wrench, King, Jake Thewlis, Williams, Sneyd, Yates, Powell, Vaughan, Stone, Fitzgibbon, Currie. Interchanges: Philbin, Crowther, Irwin, Ratchford.
