WARRINGTON Wolves slipped to a 50-38 defeat at Castleford Tigers in the Academy Under 19s League at The Mend-A-Hose Jungle on Saturday.

Castleford started strongly and took the game away from Wolves in a blistering first-half display, but Lee Briers’ young side refused to give up and were rewarded with four tries in the last nine minutes.

Briers said: “We had prepared really well but unfortunately on the day we were second best.

“You have to give a lot of credit to Castleford; they played some exceptional rugby and fully deserved to win the game.

“We need to put this game to bed and move on to next week’s home game against Hull KR.

“We will work really hard in training to ensure we are ready to bounce back immediately.”

Wolves host Hull KR at Victoria Park Arena on Saturday, kick off 12pm.

Tigers opened the scoring in the eighth minute when they kept the ball alive and centre Liam Blockley broke through before finding stand off Luke Adamson, who put hooker Luke Million over at the side of the posts.

Three minutes later good work down the left by centre Kieran Gill saw him break clear before finding scrum half Tom Holmes, who sent Blockley away to race over on the right.

Just before the midway point of the half, Holmes chipped over the Wolves defence and collected the ball before finding loose forward Connor Fitzsimmons in support to score on the left.

Adamson converted and straight from the restart a lovely long ball from Holmes found Gill who went 40 metres before passing back to Holmes, who scored at the side of the posts. Adamson added the conversion.

Just after the half hour Tigers substitute Davey Dixon, who joined them from the Wolves a few weeks ago, made a 50 metre break down the middle that split the Wolves defence and he found fellow substitute Ashley Robson on his inside to score between the posts.

Adamson converted and then five minutes later a Fitzsimmons chip on the last tackle bounced off a Wolves player back into his arms and he scored at the right of the posts. Adamson added the conversion.

A minute before the break Wolves finally got on the scoreboard, when a towering cross field kick by stand off Morgan Smith was sensationally plucked out of the air by winger David Foggin-Johnston and he scored in the left corner.

Smith goaled from the touchline to make the half time score 32-6 in Tigers’ favour.

Right from the kick off at the start of the second half Castleford sent the ball along the line to Gill who raced 40 metres down the left and he found winger Declan Sheehan on his inside to score under the posts and give Adamson a simple conversion.

Shortly after, Wolves were awarded a penalty on the Tigers line and substitute Daniel Hirst and centre Toby King, who moved to scrum half in the first half, combined to put second row Alex Whalley over on the left. Smith added on the goal points.

Wolves scored again when an overhead pass from King found full back Jack Johnson, who scored in the left corner.

But just before the hour the Tigers had a scrum on the halfway line and they went down the blind side and found Gill who broke clear and raced 50 metres to score between the posts. Adamson converted.

From the restart Million made a 50 metre break down the middle and a quick play the ball had the Wolves defence all at sea as Blockley scored in the right corner.

Six minutes later Sheehan managed to acrobatically touchdown in the left corner to bring up the half century for the Tigers.

As the game entered the final 10 minutes Wolves showed what they are capable of with some fine tries.

Scrum half Harry Reardon skipped round the Tigers defence and put substitute Andy Philbin over on the right and then Johnson chipped ahead and re-gathered the ball before racing 30 metres to score under the posts. Centre Richard Harris added both conversions.

Straight from the restart the impressive Foggin-Johnston broke away on the left and raced 60 metres before finding King, who scored wide out on the left.

In the final minute a high kick to the in-goal area by Reardon saw second row Ellis Gillam outjump the Tigers defence superbly to score on the left. Harris converted to make the final score 50-38 to a delighted Tigers side.

Wolves: Jack Johnson; Declan Kay, Richard Harris, Toby King, David Foggin-Johnston; Morgan Smith, Harry Reardon; Daniel Murray, Reece Brunt, Pat Moran, Alex Whalley, Ellis Gillam, Nathan Ainsworth. Subs: Robert Holroyd, Daniel Hirst, Andy Philbin, Sam Wilde.