Match report by Alex Minards

Trinity had the better of Castleford in an entertaining and hard-fought Academy U19 contest at Lock Lane.

Castleford were the better side in the opening minutes. Despite some solid Wakefield defence, the hosts forced their way over the line after just six minutes, successfully converting to give the Tigers a 6-0 lead.

However, just after the 10th minute and some sustained pressure, a Wakefield penalty was followed by an excellent inside pass from Pat O’Donovan allowing Sam Eseh a run at the Castleford try-line and score Trinity’s first try. Robbie Butterworth converted to level the scores at six points apiece.

Castleford then piled on the pressure, with Wakefield holding the ball up on more than one occasion to prevent the Tigers regaining the lead. A 20th-minute sin bin for Harry Bowes, adjudged to have spoken out of turn at a restart, kicked the Wakefield team into gear. Castleford were unable to take advantage of their extra man, and with ten minutes left of the half, Bowes was back on.

The visitors were now playing much the better and, with 13 on the pitch once again, successfully completed their comeback with just under five minutes left of the first half when Pat O’Donovan collected a pass from Alfie Crawford and drove across the line. Tommy Milburn converted to give Wakefield a 12-6 lead going into half-time.

Trinity started with the same energy in the second half and extended their lead further following a superb dummy from Milburn and a pass to Luke Mearns to run into the corner and touch down. The conversion was missed, but Wakefield held the aces at 16-6.

Castleford hit back on the 50th minute, as they managed to break through a stubborn Trinity defence and convert to bring the score to 16-12.

Further Trinity pressure followed this setback, and a sharp kick through the Castleford defence from Bowes fell to Robbie Mann, who grounded the ball to take Wakefield further into the lead just before the hour mark. Another successful conversion by Butterworth, and the score was 22-12.

A long Castleford kick downfield saw Trinity penalised for a late tackle on the kicker. From the penalty only 10 yards from the Wakefield try-line, the Tigers moved the ball quickly out wide to score their third try of the match. The conversion hit the post, meaning the score stood at 22-16 to Wakefield.

Trinity were not fazed however, and extended their lead again with ten minutes to go. Bowes made another excellent driving run from dummy half and a few passes later the ball was in the hands of Leon Ruan, who powered past the tiring Castleford defence to add another four points to Wakefield’s score. Butterworth converted and Wakefield now led 28-16.

Some solid Wakefield defending kept Castleford out for much of the remaining ten minutes, although Trinity received their second yellow card of the game when Butterworth was sent to the sin bin with two minutes to go for delaying the play the ball. This time round Castleford made their man advantage count, scoring another try and converting from a wide out. It wasn’t enough to stop

Wakefield from taking the honours upon the final whistle with a full time score of Castleford Tigers Under 19’s 22, Wakefield Trinity Under 19’s 28.

A very well-deserved victory and to paraphrase Head of Youth, Mark Applegarth, “always great to get a win over the local rivals!”