Pride in defeat for Wakefield Trinity Ladies against Castleford Tigers

Trinity put on a gutsy display and showed a lot of improvement compared to two years ago.

Back in 2019, the Tigresses embarrassed Trinity at the Mobile Rocket Stadium with a 100-0 victory in the Challenge Cup semi-final.

The story was a lot different on this occasion. Castleford did open the scoring early through Hollie-Mae Dodd however, Wakefield made them wait 30 minutes before crossing the whitewash again.

During that half-an-hour spell, Trinity went toe-to-toe with the Tigresses and even threatened to find a breakthrough.

Their best opportunity came through Liv Whitehead who broke down left flank and almost put Trinity on the scoreboard. Nevertheless, the Tigers withstood the pressure and kept the door firmly shut.

Soon, the Tigresses found their feet and began to create headway on the scoreboard. Leah Jones, Eva Izumi and Lucy Eastwood all grabbed tries before the interval as Castleford enjoyed a 16-0 lead.

A moment of magic from Georgia Roche saw the visitors start the second half in style. The first ever Woman of Steel ­cunningly got the better of Wakefield’s defence down the left flank before crossing the whitewash for her first of the season.

Moments later, Dodd grabbed a 13-minute brace as she completed her first ever hat-trick in the Women’s Super League.

Vice-captain Shona Hoyle also got on the scoresheet with a tremendous individual effort of her own. In the final ten minutes, it was Georgie Hetherington who took the spotlight who produced two tries to seal the win for Cas.

It wasn’t all Tigers in the second half though. Wakefield did have opportunities of their own and they did force the Tigresses into making a number of errors.

Nevertheless, it was the away side that prevailed. Speaking after the game, Wakefield’s Danielle Swaine said: “I can’t fault them.

“From where we were two years ago to where we are now – I’m so proud of the lasses. We had a game plan to put line speed on.

“You could tell the line speed was there. We forced them to score round us, and that’s what we want. They didn’t go through us.

“I absolutely can’t fault them. A fantastic game. We train for games like that. I absolutely loved it.

“The nil was important for Cas, but for us it was also important. We want to get points on board. It didn’t happen, it meant a lot to us.

“Unfortunately, we were left short again but we’ll rebuild and go again. Every team is in the same position. It’s been such a challenging 18 months to be off season.

“I think all the teams are picking up these little injuries because we’re not used to it. But we’ll get there.”

With Wakefield out of the Challenge Cup, the side will get a day off next weekend. However, they will return on May 16 with a clash against the defending champions, Leeds Rhinos.