Super League Round 21 Review
Castleford have one hand on the League Leaders Shield as they sit eight points clear at the top of the table, Leeds continue to sit second although have a lot of ground to make up if they are to catch the Tigers. Wigan made it a second win on the bounce at a vital time for the reigning Champions, whist Huddersfield registered a much needed victory and puts them in a position to make the Top 8 with two games left in the regular season.
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THURSDAY
WAKEFIELD TRINITY 24-25 CASTLEFORD TIGERS
The Thursday curtain raiser for Round 21 did not disappoint, the game went right down to the wire in a hard fought fixture.
Four Pointer Review from Jack Harbidge.
FRIDAY
WARRINGTON WOLVES 50-10 LEIGH CENTURIONS
It was the Tom Lineham show as Warrington hosted Leigh on Friday night. Ryan Atkins got things underway with a try on 5 minutes, before Ben Westwood was sent to the sin bin for a dangerous tackle. Leigh didn’t inflict any pressure with the one man advantage, instead allowing Ashton Sims to cross for his first this year, and Lineham getting himself a brace before half-time. Ben Reynolds got the Centurions’ on the scoreboard as the hooter approached but Leigh were already in a heavy deficit.
In the second period Pomeroy, Lineham and Hughes came out fighting, each helping themselves to a piece of the action. Matty Dawson saw his effort adding to Leigh’s tally, but it was too little too late for the visitors. Tom Lineham notched his fourth of the game in a stunning individual performance, before Patton wrapped up the win in an important game for the Wolves, who are holding on for a Top 8 finish.
Ben Westwood charged with Grade D Dangerous Tackle and will miss 3-5 games.
ST HELENS 19-12 HULL FC
Saints got an important two points as they halted Hull FC’s bid for a top three spot on Friday night.
Four Pointer Review from Jonny Whitfield.
HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS 40-0 WIDNES VIKINGS
Huddersfield lightened their hopes of making the Super 8s on Friday, as they confirmed Widnes’ place in the Qualifiers with an emphatic win at the John Smith’s Stadium.
Aussie prop Shannon Wakeman latched onto Leeming’s short pass to get the Giants on their way, before McGillvary registered his 14th successful try of the season just moments later. Hinchcliffe got the third before Widnes asked a few questions, though their efforts came to nothing. Adam O’Brien got himself on the scoresheet off the bench prior to half-time.
The second half imitated the first as Darnell McIntosh got in on the rout, with McGillvary getting his brace and Ta’ai rounded off the win with a nice effort to confirm a comfortable victory for the Giants.
SATURDAY
CATALANS DRAGONS 10-32 WIGAN WARRIORS
Wigan managed to gain themselves a bit of form with a routine win over Catalans in Perpignan on Saturday evening. The Warriors were in danger of dropping out of the Top 8, but a good second half performance ensured that they were more comfortable in the league and into a short bit of form ahead of the final two regular season fixtures.
It was a tough opening quarter for both sides, who went set to set with neither side getting a breakthrough. It was on the 20th minute that the deadlock was broken as the Williams-Burgess link up came up trumps. The Warriors number 6 sent a kick through for his winger to collect and go over, before Vincent Duport edged one back for the home side.
Williams added a goal to send Wigan into the sheds 8-4 to the good at half-time. The lead was short lived though, as a second from Duport before a Penalty Goal from Wigan’s Williams saw the teams neck and neck at 10-10.
It was one-way traffic from there, as Joe Burgess got another out wide, before Williams helped himself to one. Another effort from Sam Tomkins opened up a lead for the travelling Warriors before Burgess wrapped up the game to complete his hattrick in the dying stages.
SUNDAY
SALFORD RED DEVILS 24-50 LEEDS RHINOS
Leeds are up to second in the ladder after a clinical attacking win over Salford. The Rhinos crossed for nine tries against the troublesome Red Devils.
Salford opened the scoring through Josh Wood, in a near perfect start for Salford, but Ryan Hall soon got one back for Leeds. It was a 20-minutes to forget for Salford from then on in, as Leeds registered six more tries before the hooter. Tom Briscoe, Kallum Watkins and Matt Parcell got over the whitewash before Junior Sa’u was sin binned, with Joel Moon, Jamie Jones-Buchanan and Tom Briscoe again adding the blow.
Leeds went into half-time with a 36-6 lead but were wasteful in the second half and allowed the home side to get back in it. Ben Murdoch-Masilla helped himself to two, before Michael Dobson crashed over from dummy half. It was good pressure from Salford, but Leeds had enough in the tank to see the game out as Mullally and Walker sealed the win.
