2019 Super League Round 11 Review

A packed Easter double round saw round 11 begin with a tight West-Yorkshire derby as Castleford Tigers held on to edge out a 28-26 win over Wakefield Trinity.  The Tigers raced into a 22-0 lead with a James Clare brace followed by scores from Jesse Sene-Lefao and Cory Aston with Peter Mata'utia converting three times. Wakefield replied with a Mason Caton-Brown try for 22-4 into the interval.

Greg Minikin crossed for 26-4 before a second Caton-Brown try made it 26-8. Mata'utia kicked a penalty for 28-8 before Trinity staged a huge comeback with Joe Arundel, Ben Renyolds and Tinirau Arona all touching down, Ryan Hampshire converted the lot to cut the gap to a narrow 28-26 but to no avail as the Tigers held on for the win.

Catalans Dragons stormed to a 39-6 win over London Broncos at Ealing Trailfinders also on Thursday night. An early try from Matt Whitley and Sam Tomkins conversion gave the Dragons a 6-0 lead before Tomkins kicked a 24th minute penalty and improved Lewis Tierney's try for a 14-0 half-time advantage.

Greg Bird and Arthur Romano extended the lead further with Tomkins converting the former before scoring a self-converted try for 32-0. London ended the Dragons spree as Mark Ioane raced over and Morgan Smith converted for 32-6 but Catalans resumed control with Whitley's second try and a Tomkins conversion to lead 38-6 before Tomkins swept over a late drop goal to round off the 39-6 victory.

In attendance at the DW Stadium on Good Friday as St Helens eased to a 36-10 derby day win over Wigan Warriors. Saints struck early through James Roby with Lachlan Coote kicking for 6-0 before a Zak Hardaker try cut the lead to 6-4. The visitors took control as the half went on with a Regan Grace brace  (Coote conv) sandwiching a Coote penalty goal for 18-4.

Wigan hit back just before the interval as George Williams raced over for 18-10 but Saints resumed control seven minutes after the restart with Tommy Makinson's try for 22-10. The hopes of a Wigan comeback were dashed by three scores after the hour mark as Grace completed his hat-trick with Coote converting before kicking a penalty goal and crossing for a self-converted try to wrap up the 36-10 victory.

The earlier televised action saw Hull FC storm to a record 56-12 derby win over Hull Kingston Rovers. FC struck first as Jake Connor crossed and Marc Sneyd converted for 6-0 early on before a Jimmy Keinhorst try and Craig Hall conversion saw Rovers level at 6 all. A raid brace from Jack Logan saw Sneyd convert both for an 18-6 advantage that lasted until just before the interval when Hall scored a self-converted try for 18-12.

The second half saw FC run riot with Mark Minichello, Joe Westerman and Albert Kelly cross with Sneyd converting the lot while also kicking a penalty goal for a comfortable 38-4 lead, the misery continued for Rovers as Mickey Paea and Connor Wynne touching down either side of Logan's hat-trick score, Sneyd improved the lot to end the afternoon with ten successes with the boot at 56-12.

Leeds Rhinos moved off the bottom with a 38-18 derby win over Huddersfield Giants at Emerald Headingley. The Rhinos opened the scoring through Tui Lolohea with Liam Sutcliffe converting for a 6-0 lead before he improved efforts from James Donaldson and Brad Dwyer for 18-0. Huddersfield looked to be out of the contest as the interval neared as Richie Myler and Tom Briscoe both crossed with a single Sutcliffe conversion seeing the Rhinos lead 32-0 at half-time.

Hudds hit back with tries from Akuila Uate and Adam O'Brien, Oliver Russell converting both for 32-12 before Lolohea added a penalty goal for the hosts to make it 34-12. Russell converted a Darnell McIntosh try for 34-18 but it was the hosts who would have the final say as Ash Handley crossed late on with Sutcliffe successful for a sixth time for 38-18.

Salford Red Devils stunned Warrington Wolves as they eased to a 36-12 win at the HJ Stadium. A rapid start from the visitors saw Kris Welham and Joey Lussick crossing for tries which Krisnan Inu converted before he added a penalty goal minutes later for 14-0. Wire responded with a Blake Austin score which Stefan Ratchford converted for 14-6 but Salford quickly replied with a Daniel Murray effort which Inu improve before again adding a penalty goal minutes later for 22-6. The lead at the interval was 28-6 as Robert Lui crossed late on and Inu converted.

The second half began with Inu kicking two penalty goals either side of a Jake Bibby try as he extended the lead to 36-6. Warrington had the last say on the score line though as Bryson Goodwin touched down with Ratchford converting for 36-12.