Four star Solomona leads way as Castleford beat Wakefield

Flying winger Denny Solomona raced over for four tries as Castleford Tigers enjoyed a 32-6 victory in their pre-season warm-up against local rivals Wakefield Wildcats at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle.
Denny Solomona.Denny Solomona.
Denny Solomona.

Three tries in a 10 minute spell in the second half sealed victory for the Tigers after they were given a good work out defensively by the Wildcats following a strong start.

Cas survived early pressure to score three tries in 10 minutes as well in the first half to open up a 14-0 lead, but it was harder work from this point on.

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Wakefield started well as Liam Finn’s kick and an excellent chase trapped Luke Dorn in goal to force a second minute drop-out.

From the following set they then went close before Jacob Miller’s grubber kick ran over the back line.

The first Tigers attack brought the opening score as Luke Gale’s pass gave Denny Solomona the chance to dive over in the corner.

Three minutes later Ben Roberts’ high kick was knocked back in the air by Mike McMeeken onto Oliver Holmes who powered over from 20 metres out for a try that was converted by Gale.

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Cas were looking sharp and scored their third try on 13 minutes as Dorn did well to get a pass away on the floor to Solomona and the winger did the rest with a terrific low dive over in the corner.

Surprisingly that was the last Cas score of the half although another teasing high kick by Roberts almost brought about a try with Reece Lyne doing well to catch the ball behind his own line with Joel Monaghan putting him under pressure.

Wakefield gradually eased their way back into the contest with Stuart Howarth coming up with a 40-20 kick and Ashley Gibson only narrowly denied a score against his former team when held up over the line.

Miller’s low kick forced a drop-out and allowed the Wildcats to mount some further pressure from which they came up with their first try of the game, Miller’s long pass sending Lyne over in the corner. Finn’s conversion made it 14-6.

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That was how it stayed to half-time, although Cas came close to a fourth try when a long range move started by a Grant Millington charge and moved on by Gale ended with Holmes being adjudged to have been held up over the line.

It was stalemate for a spell early in the second half as both defences toughed it out. A good tackle by Roberts saved a try for Cas while a testing Finn high kick was well taken by Dorn under pressure while at the other end a Roberts kick forced a drop-out, but the resulting attacks came to nothing.

Cas did score again, however, after 58 minutes when the best handling move of the game sent Holmes charging clear and he passed for full-back Dorn to cross the line.

Four minutes later Joel Monaghan produced a smart dive to go over in the right corner following a move started by Ryan Hampshire, who had just come off the bench.

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After spending about 40 minutes off the field, Solomona came back on to quickly get in the action, racing over from 40 metres out after Gale’s long ball had caught the Wildcats defence short out wide and Michael Shenton took the move on.

There was no comeback from Wakefield and the Tigers finished off the game with their seventh try when Solomona dived over in spectacular style after receiving another well timed pass by Shenton.

In the end Cas were convincing winners and they would have won by a bigger margin had it not been for Gale missing five of his seven kicks at goal. With only one in front of the posts it was not the easiest of afternoons for him, however.

Scorers - Castleford: Tries Solomona 4, Holmes, Dorn, Monaghan; goals Gale 2. Wakefield: Try: Lyne; goal Finn.

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Castleford Tigers: Dorn; Monaghan, Webster, Shenton, Solomona; Roberts, Gale; Lynch, McShane, Millington, O Holmes, McMeeken, Jewitt. Subs: Moors, Milner, Cook, Crooks, Hampshire.

Wakefield Wildcats: Jones-Bishop; Johnstone, B Tupou, Gibson, Lyne; Miller, Finn; Scruton, Howarth, England, Kirmond, A Tupou, Annakin. Subs: Sio, Arundel, Molloy, Jowitt, Ashurst, Hall, Arona, Yates, Tansey, Walton.

Referee: Richard Silverwood.

Half-time: 14-6.

Attendance: 3,685