Wildcats thrive in the Jungle

Wakefield Wildcats overpowered local rivals Castleford Tigers as they won their Good Friday derby clash 35-6 at the Jungle.

Leading 8-0 at the break, Wakefield bagged 19 points in the last 13 minutes of the match to seal a game that had been in the balance until then.

Ryan Atkins grabbed two tries for the visitors while Tony Martin, Matt Blaymire and Martin Gleeson also touched down once.

The Tigers only managed to get on the scoreboard with a single try for Joe Westerman as the hosts tried to fight back in the second half, but without more points they ran out of steam late on.

Castleford actually had the better of the early opportunities to open the scoring with Kirk Dixon pushing a long-range penalty wide and Nathan Massey losing possession close to the Wakefield line.

Pushing

The Tigers pushed again after opting to run a kickable penalty but they were frustrated when Michael Shenton passed into touch looking for Mike Wainwright.

The breakthrough eventually came just seconds after the introduction of Danny Sculthorpe on the half-hour, as he powered forward from a tap-penalty on his first carry and offloaded to send Martin over.

Brough, after converting, then surprisingly missed a chance to extend the lead from a straight-forward penalty but nailed another attempt on the half-time hooter.

Wakefield carried the momentum into the second period and took a tighter grip on the game when Atkins forced his way over.

Brough had already threatened with a tricky run when Cas were breached again as Atkins took a Brad Drew pass at speed and twisted over.

Brough again converted but Castleford responded well to force the visitors to drop out twice from under their posts.

Pressure

The pressure paid off as Rangi Chase pierced the Wakefield line with a delicate kick and Westerman pounced.

Dixon's goal cut the deficit to 14-6 but the Wildcats then found another gear. Brough left the field but Martin proved an able goalkicking deputy when he added another two points after a high tackle on Blaymire.

Sam Obst then went close before Drew's kick rebounded off the post and Blaymire pounced.

After receiving a controversial penalty, Wakefield then finished the game as a contest as Obst put in a fine kick for Gleeson to slide over.

Martin converted both but Brough was soon back in the action and added a late drop goal.

Wakefield had time for one more attack and scored again through Atkins in the closing moments with Brough adding his fourth goal.