Warrington 46 Castleford 28: Briers pulls strings to keep Wolves on track

Lee Briers led the way in a high-scoring, entertaining and error-ridden game at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in which the difference between a side bound for the play-offs and one struggling to keep clear of relegation was not always clear-cut.

Briers, the Warrington stand-off, contributed 18 points with seven goals and a try before limping off with an ankle injury near the end. By then he had done more than his share to make this one of those matches where attack always has the edge over defence.

"It was like a carnival atmosphere," said the Wolves' coach, Paul Cullen, who was delighted his team had won despite being uncharacteristically loose in some aspects of their play.

Castleford seemed to set out their stall by fielding four props in their starting pack, but it was back-line flair that brought them the opening try of the afternoon, the winger Waine Pryce reaching a kick from Ryan McGoldrick and flicking the ball up for Michael Shenton to score.

Two Kiwis who had the chance to impress their watching national coach, Brian McClennan, must have done so when Logan Swann gave Henry Fa'afili the pass for Warrington's response. Simon Grix's run then set up the position from which Swann scored their second and the Wolves were on their way.

Two brilliant pieces of kicking from Briers stretched the lead. First he chipped over the defence to set up Jon Clarke and then a deep kick early in the tackle count connected with a pre-planned dash by Richie Barnett.

That is the sort of unorthodox play that teams find difficult to answer. "Not too many teams have handled Lee Briers this year and he didn't have to get out of his dinner suit very often today," said the Castleford coach, Terry Matterson.

Shenton got his second try just after half-time but Brent Grose, who had scored his first before the break, replied for the Wolves and Paul Wood almost immediately went over from close range.

Castleford showed some fighting spirit, however, by claiming a quick double of their own. The busy McGoldrick sent Peter Lupton over and Deon Bird scored after an amazing 50-metre run from Danny Ward, a prop of the old school who does not normally go that far on his holidays.

Danny Sculthorpe, playing in the second row, brought the Tigers to within 12 points by lunging over, but then showed the careless side of his game with a pass that was intercepted by Briers for his try - the last of the game.

"There was a lot more fight in them than the last time we played them," said Cullen. "They came back and had a bit of a go at us, but we weren't in top gear."

Warrington: Reardon; Fa'afili, Martin Gleeson, Grose,Barnett; Briers, Sullivan; Wood, Clarke, Hilton, Swann, Wainwright, Westwood. Substitutes used: Mark Gleeson, Grix, Pickersgill, Lima.

Castleford: Platt; Pryce, Shenton, Bird, Blanch; McGoldrick, Lupton; Ward, Henderson, Nutley, Sculthorpe, Manu, Huby. Substitutes used: Fa'aoso; Handforth, Viane Whittaker.

Referee: R Laughton (Barnsley).