IT’S safe to say Wolves were pretty happy to see the back of Newcastle.

Amongst all the festival atmosphere Magic Weekend brings, Tony Smith’s side have now made two trips to Tyneside and returned empty-handed on both occasions.

While last year’s defeat to St Helens was a tight affair, this was sadly the exact opposite.

It started well enough, with Wolves dominating the first half-hour, gaining big yards and putting Cas under the pump with relentless pressure.

They were rewarded with three tries, with Ben Currie’s effort the stand-out when he finished Matty Russell’s break after Stefan Ratchford’s 70-metre dash and Kurt Gidley’s short-range effort.

14-0 and the game looked half-won, but the Tigers had other ideas.

They threw the ball around with gusto, typified by Luke Dorn’s first try close to the end of the first half before Grant Millington exploited big gaps to give his side all the momentum, despite still being behind, at the break.

Denny Solomona, Super League’s top try-scorer, had been kept relatively quiet in the first period, but that all changed when he soared above Tom Lineham to collect Luke Gale’s high bomb to touch down his 17th try of the season to edge Cas ahead.

Number 18 wasn’t long in coming, finishing off after Dorn had broken straight from a scrum, but that wasn’t before Mike McMeeken had exploited huge shortcomings in Wolves’ left-edge defence to score a try of his own.

These two tries demonstrated the problems Wolves had throughout the second half, but they just could not live with the intensity of the Yorkshiremen.

Paul McShane profited from quick ball at the ruck, just as Daryl Clark had done in the first half, as Cas pinned Wolves down.

Gale, who was imperious in the second period, kicked a penalty to rub salt in the wounds before old warhorse Dorn finished off Junior Moors’ break to complete a humbling defeat for Wolves.

Cas quite rightly celebrated with their heaving throng of travelling fans, but the inquest for Wolves was already well underway by then.

For a side that has built a lot of its success on a strong defence, conceding 30 plus points two weeks in a row is a huge concern.

MATCH FACTS:

Super League Round 15, Saturday, May 21, 2016

Venue: St James' Park, Newcastle

Warrington Wolves 14 Castleford Tigers 34

Wolves: Matty Russell; Tom Lineham, Toby King, Benjamin Jullien, Gene Ormsby; Kurt Gidley, Stefan Ratchford; Chris Hill, Daryl Clark, Ashton Sims, Ben Westwood, Ben Currie, Joe Westerman. Subs: Ryan Bailey, Jordan Cox, Morgan Smith, George King.

Tigers: Luke Dorn; Paddy Flynn, Ben Crooks, Joel Monaghan, Denny Solomona; Ben Roberts, Luke Gale; Danny Tickle, Adam Milner, Grant Millington, Junior Moors, Mike McMeeken, Nathan Massey. Subs: Paul McShane, Gadwin Springer, Jake Webster, Matt Cook.

Scoring: Ratchford try, 4mins, 4-0; Gidley try, 8mins, Gidley goal, 10-0; Currie try, 30mins, 14-0; Dorn try, 34mins, Gale goal, 14-6; Millington try, 39mins, Gale goal, 14-12; Solomona try, 47mins, 14-16; McMeeken try, 50mins, 14-20; Solomona try, 56mins, Gale goal, 14-26; Gale penalty, 63mins, 14-28; Dorn try, 66mins, Gale goal, 14-34

Penalties: Wolves 6 Tigers 7

Referee: Gareth Hewer

Attendance: 39, 331

Top man: Matty Russell

INTERESTING NOTES:

Wolves concede 30-plus points for second straight week

Fifth loss in eight games

Defeat means Wolves have yet to win a Magic Weekend game in Newcastle (two games, two defeats)

Fourth loss in 10 Magic Weekend outings