Castleford Tigers take derby honours in nervy clash Super League clash with Wakefield Trinity

It was not entirely convincing, but the Tigers ran out 16-4 winners to move four points clear of their local rivals, who are still searching for a first victory of the season after eight games.

Mark Applegarth’s men threw everything they could at the Tigers, but could only take one of their chances and were left counting their wounds again on another difficult night.

For Cas, skipper Paul McShane was immense as he had a hand in all three of their tries and kicked two goals while Greg Eden’s classy finishing when back in his best position on the wing was also vital in their victory.

They also defended well on several back to back sets near their own line and will be pleased to have only conceded one try.

McShane was never far from the action against his former team and he gave Cas the start they were after with the opening try in the fourth minute, spotting a half-gap to drive over from close range after Jack Broadbent’s initial break had Trinity back pedalling.

McShane’s goal made it 6-0, but it was not the cue for the hosts to relax and play their best rugby as they looked nervous on the ball and made mistakes.

So too did Trinity, although they worked a good opening and were only denied out wide when Bureta Faraimo gota hand to a pass that would have sent winger Innes Senior over.

McShane and Broadbent went close for Cas before a breakaway try doubled their lead.

McShane fielded a kick near his own line, spotted a gap and raced clear to launch a counter attack, the speedy Eden was up in support and did the rest with a great finish at pace to go over for the second try of the game. McShane’s goal made it 12-0 at half-time.

Wakefield needed to score first after the interval and did so when Faraimo’s knock-on from a high kick gave them initial good field position and another kick was then spilled by Jacob Miller. It appeared to go backwards, but the officials ruled it a knock-on and the visitors took full advantage, working an opening for Langi to power over for a try.

Revitalised Trinity looked more dangerous now, but poor execution saw them fail to make the most of some pressure.

Another mistake at the other end saw Faraimo lose the ball near the line line and the resulting seven-tackle set led to big pressure on the home line, during which they went down to 12 men with Joe Westerman sin-binned for tripping.

Wakefield were unable to take advantage of their extra man, however, and when Cas marched back up field they came up with the match clinching try as McShane’s one-on-one ball steal gave them a great attacking position from which Niall Evalds sent Eden over in the corner.

It was now about game management and the Tigers saw out the remaining 11 minutes well, their opponents’ only chance coming in the last minute as Miller’s fantastic tackle denied Lee Kershaw as he dived to try and plant the ball down in the corner.