18 August 2023 , 21:55
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Hat-trick hero Greg Eden gave new boss Danny Ward the perfect start as classy Castleford edged their relegation showdown against Wakefield.
The prolific winger’s treble crucially swung Super League’s basement battle in Tigers’ favour - and took his career tally to 150 tries. After sacking Andy Last, ex-London boss Ward was brought in to save Cas’ season with six games to go. And the former Great Britain prop - in the Cas side relegated when losing the Battle of Belle Vue to Wakefield in 2006 - quickly made his mark.
And Eden, 32, did the damage with his TWELFTH treble for the club. Ward said: “Greg’s unbelievable. His strike rate is great and he really had to work to get in for one of his tries. Not many wingers in the comp would have managed that. He was fantastic but there was some great work from people inside. It was fantastic to get the win, especially in a derby like that. But this wasn’t the be all and end all. We know we need more but hopefully this is the springboard.”
Cas, with stand-off Blake Austin debuting after his shock move from Leeds, were on a five-game losing run while their fierce derby rivals had won their last four home games. But with the pressure on, they delivered and extended their remarkable record at Trinity’s home to NINE successive wins. They have now pulled two points clear of Wakefield who saw debutant Josh Griffin cross twice but will now be fearing the worst.
Yet Mark Applegarth’s side led 8-6 heading towards the break and had gradually got on top. But their ruthless opponents made them pay for two big mistakes to suddenly go in 16-8 instead. Tom Lineham spilled Austin’s tormenting spiralling kick and that allowed Gareth Widdop’s smart tip-pass to get Eden over in the 35th minute.
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And then Austin - eager to make up for two handling errors of his own - rushed up to smash Griffin on the Wakefield 20. Direct from the scrum, Castleford shifted it smartly to the left and Widdop again provided the final pass to get Eden over with just 42 seconds remaining. Widdop converted from wide out to leave Wakefield stunned.
Tigers’ Alex Foster, their recent signing from part-timers Newcastle, crashed over in the 48th minute following Elliot Wallis’ brilliant kick-return. Joe Westerman’s error gifted position for Griffin to score his second, the ex-Hull player who returned from a seven-game ban for verbally abusing referee Chris Kendall who, ironically, was also in charge tonight. But none of the hosts’ three tries were converted and Lineham had another chalked off for Reece Lyne’s forward pass.
Castleford's Greg Eden is congratulated by Charbel Tasipale on scoring his second try against Wakefield. (Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com)Widdop made sure with a 64th minute penalty before Eden got his treble on the final play. Charbel Tasipale had got them up and running in the eighth minute before tries for Max Jowitt and Griffin got Wakefield briefly in front.
Applegarth rued: “It hurts. We had our chances to win it. But Cas handled it better in the 80. They took their chances when they got them. Our last passes weren’t sticking. Bottom line is they were more clinical. We’re not giving up hope. I said when six points behind in the table it wasn’t all over and some people thought I was mad. There’s enough character here to deal with this setback.”