Super League Magic Weekend Review

The annual Magic Weekend festival came around this week and what a superb weekend it was with day one featured in my Stadium Travels feature while day two saw three superb contests.

Super Salford Vanquish Vikings

Saturday's action began with the clash between Salford Red Devils and Widnes Vikings which was my fourth viewing of the sides meeting at Magic. Salford began with a try from Daniel Vidot inside five minutes before being pegged back by Rhys Hanbury's self-converted try for 4-6. Chris Bridge crossed ahead of a Hanbury pen to open up a 4-12 lead into the break. 

Justin Carney crossed ahead of Vidot's second to put the Red Devils ahead at 16-12 before a late penalty from Gareth O'Brien sealed an 18-12 victory. 

Classy Cas Cull Wolves

Game two saw Warrington Wolves face Castleford Tigers with the Wolves looking to open up a lead at the top of the Super League table. They got their pursuit off to a good start as Stefan Ratchford, Kurt Gidley and Ben Currie ran in tries to open up a 14-0 lead inside half an hour. Luke Dorn and Grant Millington reduced the deficit to 14-12 at the interval.

The Tigers completed the comeback within ten minutes of the restart through Denny Solomona who preceded a try from Mike McMeeken before claiming his second just before the hour mark for a 14-26 lead. The superb spree from the Tigers saw Luke Gale add a penalty before putting the gloss on Dorn's second try to confirm a 14-34 triumph. 

Wonderful Warriors Rout Rhinos

The finale on day one saw Leeds Rhinos face Wigan Warriors with the Rhinos looking to end a four game losing run against the Warriors and end my in doing so end my personal 100% record at Magic itself. 

The Rhinos opened the scoring inside eight minutes through Kallum Watkins for 4-0 before Wigan fought back with a brace from Willie Isa for a 4-12 lead into the interval.

Leeds were cast aside early in the second half as Wigan ran in three tries in the first 14 minutes as George Williams, Dom Manfredi and Ben Flower crossed for a 4-28 lead which was cut by Mitch Achurch for 8-28 before Oliver Gildart and Dan Sarginson scored later on to wrap up a comfortable 8-40 rout for Wigan.

Wildcats Deny Dragons 

The first game of the day saw two sides in great form as Wakefield and Catalans faced off with the Wildcats sealing a superb 25-24 victory late on.

The Dragons stormed into a 14-0 lead with tries from Horo, Broughton and Gigot before a master-class from Ben Jones-Bishop saw him score a superb brace before a try from Sio completed the comeback at 18-14.

The Dragons battled back through Duport and Broughton before a late try from Simon set up a tense finish at 24-24. The moment of the weekend itself came with three minutes left as Miller swept over a superb drop goal for the win.

Giants Glory As Saints Stutter 

Game two saw Huddersfield Giants steal the show as they dominated St Helens with a comfortable 40-28 victory. The Giants raced into a 16-0 lead with tries from McGillvary, Ta'ai, Ellis but Saints stemmed the spree through Dawson.

Hudds ran riot in the second half with McGillvary crossing for his second try ahead efforts from Rapira and Murphy increased the lead to 34-6. Saints remained in the hunt with tries from Owens, Fages and Swift to close at 30-26. But the win was sealed for the Giants as Hinchcliffe and Wood crossed late on.

Fabulous FC Floor Robins

The big city derby between Hull FC and Hull Kingston Rovers certainly lived up to expectation as the sides shared 44 points in a 28-16 victory for FC.

Tries from Fonua and Naughton got the Black and Whites off to a great start before tries from Lunt, Horne and goals from Campese put the Robins ahead at 16-10.

 

FC stunned their rivals in the Easter derby and staged a similar comeback today as they sealed the win with a second try from Fonua ahead of efforts from Shaul and Minichello.