PERHAPS going on to bury Castleford when they were rocking at 26-6 was too much to ask of Warrington Wolves in the circumstances.

Two tries within five minutes of the restart, and the hosts seemingly unable to do much right, gave a sense that the floodgates might have opened at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle.

Warrington Guardian:

Toby King celebrates his try at the start of the second half. Picture: Mike Boden

They might have done had, only a few minutes later, Ryan Atkins cleanly touched down Dec Patton’s smart grubber kick and if Jack Hughes’ effort had not been discounted for King being adjudged to have tackled Cas debutant Cheyse Blair in the air before he dropped another kick.

Warrington Guardian:

Congratulations for co-captain Jack Hughes after scoring proved to be premature. Picture: Mike Boden

However, a fourth game in two weeks in this most gladiatorial of sports takes its toll at some point.

You could see that in Wire stand-off Blake Austin, who was limping for chunks of the game, but was strong in helping to keep Blair quiet on his big night.

Warrington Guardian:

Instinctive Blake Austin seems to be getting a look for teammates Josh Charnley and Toby King saying: "Where's he going?" Picture: Mike Boden

Maybe Steve Price’s men did switch off a little as the hosts hit back with quickfire tries midway through the second half.

A clutch of referee calls and penalties gave Cas a lift with those and got the crowd excited but all credit to The Wire for the resolve shown in turning the tide of momentum, ending the comeback there and seeing the remaining 17 minutes out with excellent game management.

Warrington Guardian:

Ryan Atkins gets to grips with Cas half-back Cory Aston. Picture: Mike Boden

In the aftermath there has been plenty of noise from the Castleford side of the Pennines about the 11 players they had missing – and key man Paul McShane being lost to injury early in the first half – but both sides were depleted and fatigued.

> READ: Latest Wire injury update

There was no Tom Lineham, Bryson Goodwin, Jake Mamo, Kevin Brown, Ben Murdoch-Masila, Ben Westwood, Danny Walker or Lama Tasi in the Wire ranks, if we are counting.

And Jack Johnson, who was not named in the 19, was playing his first game of Super League for 22 months – and handling well everything that Cas tried to throw at him.

> WORDS AND VIDEO: Lots of love for Johnson after comeback

Warrington Guardian:

Jack Johnson holds up Greg Minikin as Ryan Atkins comes in for the kill. Picture: Mike Boden

Instead Cas should be looking at their error count and especially failing to find touch twice after penalty awards.

For the most part, Warrington looked sharper and better organised with an effective kicking game that troubled the hosts.

Despite conceding a sloppy early try, Price’s men showed no panic and were both methodical and patient in the way they went about their business in assembling a 14-6 interval lead through a Mike Cooper try full of desire and strength as well as the first of a double that rewarded Toby King’s fine centre play.

Warrington Guardian:

Bodies left strewn on the floor after Mike Cooper's power-charged drive to the line from 20 metres out. Picture: Mike Boden

Stefan Ratchford was a cool head and expertly defused high kicks that could have caused lesser full-backs nightmares.

Daryl Clark haunted his old club at times and his silky pass for King’s second try was a stunner.

Warrington Guardian:

Daryl Clark's perfectly timed precision flick pass for Toby King's second try at the start of the second half. Picture: Mike Boden

Namesake Jason Clark was a tower of strength off the bench, once again showing the importance of his leadership around the ruck area after starting props Cooper and Chris Hill take a breather.

Every player contributed and earned the two-day break ahead of stepping up preparations to face Wigan Warriors in the Challenge Cup on May 12.

Warrington Guardian:

Jason Clark gets the ball away from dummy half. Picture: Mike Boden

INTERESTING NOTES:

. Jack Johnson's first Super League appearance since playing outside Peta Hiku in loss at Wakefield on July 1, 2017.

. The Wire complete 2019 Super League double over Castleford

> READ: How The Wire beat Tigers at home on March 7

. Only the second visiting team to win at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle this year, the other being St Helens

. Third win in a row for The Wire, Fourth loss in past five games for Cas

MATCH FACTS:

Castleford Tigers…14

Warrington Wolves…26

Tigers: Peter Mata'utia; Tuoyo Egodo, Greg Minikin, Cheyse Blair, Greg Eden; Cory Aston, Jake Trueman; Liam Watts, Paul McShane, Will Maher, Chris Clarkson, Mike McMeeken, Nathan Massey. Subs: Adam Milner, Mitch Clark, Calum Turner, Daniel Smith.

Wolves: Stefan Ratchford; Josh Charnley, Ryan Atkins, Toby King, Jack Johnson; Blake Austin, Dec Patton; Chris Hill, Daryl Clark, Mike Cooper, Jack Hughes, Ben Currie, Matt Davis. Subs: Joe Philbin, Sitaleki Akauola, Jason Clark, Harvey Livett.

> WORDS AND VIDEO: What Steve Price and Ben Currie said about the win

Scoring: Aston try, 8mins, Mata'utia goal, 6-0; Cooper try, 13mins, Ratchford goal, 6-6; Ratchford penalty, 26mins, 6-8; King try, 31mins, 6-12; Ratchford penalty, 40mins, 6-14; King try, 42mins, Ratchford goal, 6-20; Currie try, 45mins, Ratchford goal, 6-26; Egodo try, 59mins, 10-26; Minikin try, 63mins, 14-26.

Warrington Guardian:

Mike Cooper's converted try levelled the scoring in the first half. Picture: Mike Boden

Penalties: Tigers 7 Wolves 5

Referee: Chris Kendall

Attendance: 5,323

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