A review of Sunday's action in the Betfred Super League, where there were away wins for Castleford and Wakefield.
Super League results
- Huddersfield 0-24 Castleford
- Hull KR 10-38 Wakefield
A second-half burst of points helped Castleford keep their Betfred Super League play-off hopes alive with a 24-0 victory at relegation-threatened Huddersfield.
The Tigers stay sixth, behind Salford on points difference, with their remaining fixtures all against sides above them in the table and also scrapping for the most advantageous play-off positions.
Castleford play host to Hull FC either side of trips to league leaders St Helens and in-form Wigan but gained a crucial and confidence-boosting success at the John Smith's Stadium through tries from James Clare, Adam Milner, Mike McMeeken and Jesse Sene-Lefao, plus four goals from Adam Ellis.
Huddersfield have now lost eight of their last 10 matches and are only kept off of the bottom of the table by a marginally favourable points difference, with an equally tough run-in comprising games at Hull FC and St Helens followed by a final home game against faltering Catalans Dragons.
The hosts were dealt a blow before the game even kicked off with back Innes Senior pulling out in the warm-up with a leg injury, and showed little to suggest they can halt their recent slide with a largely toothless showing.
Darnell McIntosh, 18th man, came in at centre for Senior and it was on the wing that he occupied that Clare squeezed over in the corner to open the scoring for the visitors.
Ellis, in only his second game back after a lengthy spell out injured, failed to master the blustery wind with the conversion attempt.
Lee Gaskell appeared to have ghosted through the Cas defence but was hauled back for obstruction, while Greg Minikin crossed at the other end but the try was ruled out for a forward pass.
The visitors looked the more ambitious and lively, with a break from former Giants full-back Jordan Rankin being among the more rousing moments of an otherwise largely forgettable first half.
Ellis hacked on a loose ball but knocked on trying to pick it up before diving over just before the break.
The second period began in equally uninspiring fashion until Milner bundled his way over next to the posts in the 50th minute and Ellis added the extras.
Huddersfield's task became more difficult when Alex Mellor was sin-binned for preventing Oliver Holmes running onto a grubber in-goal but Ellis still extended their advantage through the subsequent penalty.
Moments later the game became almost irretrievable when McMeeken was first to ground another grubber and Ellis added his third goal.
Ten minutes from the end Sene-Lefao shook off a weak tackle to score Cas' fourth try.
The Giants, who lost 44-0 to Leeds in their previous home match, have now gone 161 minutes without scoring a point in front of their own supporters.
Trinity ease relegation fears
Wakefield moved a step closer to securing Super League survival after a confidence-boosting 38-10 win over relegation-rivals Hull KR.
Trinity climbed two points away from the bottom of the table and ended a five-game losing streak with the vital result at KCOM Craven Park.
But relegation worries continue to grow for the Robins as they remain in 11th spot, level on 18 points alongside Huddersfield and London.
Braces from Jacob Miller and Ryan Hamsphire proved the difference for Wakefield as Danny Brough added 10 points with the boot, while Ben Jones-Bishop, Kyle Wood and Bill Tupou also crossed.
A Morgan Escare knock on after just two minutes handed the home side a great chance to attack but Kane Linnett could not take the cut-out pass and Hull KR coughed up possession.
Wakefield then took the lead in the 10th minute when Miller dived over for his first score, with Brough adding the extras.
Trinity extended their lead to 8-0 six minutes later through a penalty goal by Brough, before it went from bad to worse for the Robins when Jones-Bishop crossed the whitewash.
The visitors shifted the ball to the right, Reece Lyne slipped out of a tackle and drew the winger to put Jones-Bishop through.
However, Hull KR hit back in the 32nd minute through Ben Crooks' acrobatic effort. Josh Drinkwater launched a bomb into Wakefield's in-goal area and Crooks leapt highest to collect and score.
Full-back Adam Quinlan came off with a head knock, which forced the Robins into a reshuffle in their backline.
But the change in personnel did not affect the hosts as Mitch Garbutt used brute strength to power past Wakefield's defence and crash over.
Shaw made no mistake with the conversion as the home side cut the deficit to 14-10 at the break.
Wakefield started the second period with renewed enthusiasm and quickly built on their lead.
Kyle Wood took advantage of a quick play-the-ball to burrow over, which was converted by Brough to increased their advantage to 10 points.
Trinity blew two scoring opportunities as they continued their momentum, which was aided by sloppy ball-handling from Hull KR.
But victory was beyond doubt when Tupou barged over from acting dummy-half, while Miller crossed after collecting off his own grubber kick in the final 16 minutes.
There was still time for Hampshire to touch down twice, firstly pouncing on a loose ball to cross in front of the travelling fans before the winger added gloss to the scoreline by collecting his own chip over the top with three minutes remaining.
