Castleford crush Quins
Sunday, 20 Jul 2008 17:30
Castleford defied the league positions to record a stunning victory
Super League bottom side Castleford produced a stunning performance to defeat an under-strength Harlequins 66-12 at The Stoop.
League positions went out the window as three Castleford players scored hat-tricks in the rout.
Harlequins fielded a weakened side through a combination of injury and suspension, and the visitors were in no mood to go easy on them.
Michael Shenton, Luke Dorn and Richard Owen all scored hat-tricks as the Tigers ran in 13 tries.
The contest began evenly with Chris Melling and Stuart Donlan exchanging early scores.
Castleford then produced a blistering 10 minutes spell in which they scored three tries with turned the game their way.
The hat-trick men each scored before Jon Grayshon pulled one back for Quins, but the second half was all Castleford.
They ran in eight tries during the second period to complete a comprehensive rout.
Elsewhere, Bradford took advantage of Wakefield's terrible form to run out 24-10 winners.
Wakefield had lost three in a row going into the contest and, despite Sam Burgess being sent to the sin-bin in the first-half, the Bulls were able to run out comfortable victors.
After a close first-half, Wakefield surrendered after the break, with Bradford scoring four tries through Paul Deacon, Terry Newton, Ben Jeffries and Iestyn Harris.
It was the worst possible way for Wakefield to prepare for next Sunday's Challenge Cup semi-final against Hull at the Keepmoat Stadium.