Three tries in six minutes after half-time helped Wigan Warriors move two points clear again at the top of the Super League table last night as they defeated the Castleford Tigers 36-22. Wigan had led by just two points at the interval, but their purple patch saw Joel Tomkins go over twice and Amos Roberts also score between the 45th and 51st minute to put them well in control. Roberts, Cameron Phelps and Pat Richards had all gone over for tries in the first half, before two tries from Michael Shenton had given Castleford hope of pushing the Warriors.
But they were powerless to stop Wigan running away with the game in the second half, although Michael Wainwright scored with 15 minutes to go, before Roberts completed his hat-trick to kill off any danger of an unlikely comeback. Battling Castleford did have the last word as replacement Michael Cooper went over with two minutes to go, but it was not enough to spoil Wigan's day as they picked up their sixth win of the season.
A dominant first-half showing set Wakefield Wildcats up for their fourth win of the season as they comfortably beat Salford Reds 36-6. Daryl Millard, Tevila Leo-Latu, Glenn Morrison, Dale Ferguson and Aaron Murphy all scored tries inside the first half-hour to set Wakefield up for an easy day's work. Sam Obst, who also kicked four goals, crossed the whitewash after the break as he finished with a personal haul of 12 points, while Damien Bianch also touched down.
Replacement Stuart Littler got Salford's lone try. Saturday's game had seen Huddersfield Giants come out on top 32-18 against basement club Harlequins, with Leroy Cudjoe claiming a hat-trick of tries for the winners. gcaygill@thenational.ae