Adam O'Brien
Adam O'Brien

Super League results, reports and reaction from Magic Weekend in Newcastle


A review of the Magic Weekend action so far in the Betfred Super League, including full reports, match stats and reaction.

Super League Magic Weekend: Fixtures & Results (May 20-21)


Click on each scoreline for a full report & reaction
Click here for updated Super League standings

Saturday May 20 (All ties at St James' Park)

Widnes 12-34 Wakefield
Hull FC 0-45 St Helens
Wigan 24-24 Warrington

Sunday May 21 (All ties at St James' Park)

Catalan Dragons 10-18 Huddersfield
Leigh 22-36 Salford
Castleford 29-18 Leeds

Click here for updated Super League standings

Sunday review


Greg Eden registered a hat-trick of tries for the second time against Leeds this season as Castleford closed the Dacia Magic Weekend with a stylish second-half performance.

With the scores level at 6-6 after an evenly poised opening 40 minutes, Eden crossed twice in the space of three second-half minutes to ultimately swing the contest firmly in Castleford's favour.

Having also bagged a treble when the teams met earlier this season, Eden crossed once more to put the finishing touches on a 29-18 victory, one that moves the Tigers two points clear at the top of the Betfred Super League.

The prolific winger took his tally to a league-best 18 tries for the season, while this effort was his second hat-trick in the space of nine days, having also touched down three times in a 53-10 win over St Helens in the Challenge Cup last week.

Huddersfield claimed only their fourth win of the Betfred Super League season after overcoming Catalans Dragons 18-10 in an encounter  that will not linger long in the memory.

The second day of the Dacia Magic Weekend at St James' Park began  with a whimper, but it was Huddersfield who prevailed as they handed  Catalans a fifth consecutive defeat.

Trailing 10-6 following tries from Richie Myler and Iain Thornley  with only eight minutes remaining, the Giants went ahead when Sam Rapira  powered over before Adam O'Brien's score ensured there was no way back  for Catalans.

Catalans led for much of the match but were denied three tries by the  video referee and their inability to take the game by the scruff of the  neck came back to haunt them. 

Salford condemned 12-man Leigh to an eighth successive Super League defeat with a 36-22 victory that enabled them to climb into second place.

Second rower Ben Murdoch-Masila continued his rich vein of form with two tries, taking his tally for the year to 10 in just nine appearances, as the Red Devils eased to an eighth win from their last nine matches.

It was a Magic Weekend debut to forget for Leigh winger Adam Higson who became the seventh player to be sent off in the event for a high tackle on Salford full-back Gareth O'Brien.

That came at a crucial time in the match, with Salford clinging to a 24-18 lead, and proved costly for the Centurions, who are in danger of being cut adrift in the bottom two.

Saturday review


Joe Burgess pounced for a last-minute try to earn Wigan a 24-24 draw in their Grand Final rematch with Warrington in a dramatic finish to the opening day of Super League's Dacia Magic Weekend at Newcastle's St James' Park.

Winger Liam Marshall's hat-trick looked to be in vain after Warrington's former Wigan second rower Jack Hughes, playing as a makeshift centre, crossed for what looked certain to be the winning try seven minutes from the end.

But Burgess brilliantly gathered a high kick from skipper Sean O'Loughlin to tie the scores and Wigan would have snatched the victory had George Williams been able to add the difficult conversion but he was off target for the first time in the match.

The drama, which followed two largely one-sided matches, was lapped up by a first day crowd of 35,361 at St James' Park which organisers say keeps them on track for the third highest crowd of the Magic Weekend series.

The 21-year-old Marshall had earlier continued his prolific form in his debut season, taking his try tally to 13 in just 12 appearances, seven of them against the Wolves.

The shared spoils were enough to lift Warrington out of the bottom four for the first time this year but not enough to help Wigan climb back into the top four.

Earlier, Justin Holbrook enjoyed a dream start to life as St Helens head coach after his new charges stormed to an upset 45-0 victory over in-form Hull.

Holbrook was expected to have a watching brief before officially taking charge on Monday but was clearly giving the orders for Saints, who ended Hull's five-match winning run in staggering style.

The Airlie Birds had the opportunity to go top of Betfred Super League for 24 hours at least but found their opponents an almost unrecognisable prospect to the side that had shipped 93 points in their previous two matches.

Saints were thrashed 53-10 by Castleford last week to crash out of the Challenge Cup, a defeat that forward Kyle Amor said left him reluctant to leave the house.

But two tries from Alex Walmsley and Regan Grace, plus further scores from Ryan Morgan, Morgan Knowles, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Tommy Makinson turned the form book well and truly on its head.

Hull put 62 points past Catalans Dragons last week but, following a strong start, were strangled into submission and incredibly blanked.

Wakefield maintained their challenge for a first-ever top-four finish with an impressive 34-12 rout of bottom club Widnes in the opening game of the day.

Not even the arrival of Rangi Chase could lift the Vikings out of the doldrums as their patched-up side paid the price for an error-strewn first half at St James' Park.

Chase, who has joined Widnes on loan from Castleford, made a low-key debut alongside two other borrowed players, winger Jack Johnson and second rower Sam Wilde, as coach Denis Betts seeks an end to his club's season-long struggle.

They were out of contention by half-time, when they trailed 16-0, before upping their game in the second half while an impressive performance from young winger Ryan Ince provided another crumb of comfort for the Widnes fans.

Wakefield were good value for only their fourth win in 11 Magic Weekend appearances and a second convincing victory of the season over the Vikings lifted them up to fifth in the table.

Click here for updated Super League standings, fixtures and results

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