Busted Castleford Tigers are put to the sword by play-off rivals Salford

Four days on from their dramatic win at Warrington Wolves, the depleted Tigers were unable to lift themselves again for the visit of in-form Salford Red Devils and lost 50-10.

Lee Radford's side had nothing left in the tank and suffered their heaviest home defeat of the season as they were ruthlessly punished by the free-scoring Red Devils as they sealed their play-off spot.

Busted and broken, Cas lost their last remaining regular half-back when Danny Richardson – so instrumental in the win over Warrington – was helped from the field with a leg injury before half-time.

With Jake Trueman, Niall Evalds, Gareth O'Brien, Ryan Hampshire and Callum McLelland already sidelined, the Tigers did not have the tools to match Salford's creativity.

Whereas Castleford have had to mix and match in the spine ever since round one, Salford have managed to keep their creative players on the field.

Former Castleford half-back Marc Sneyd got the scoreboard ticking with a 40-metre penalty and before the hosts knew it they were 20-0 down and virtually out of the game.

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With Brodie Croft at the heart of most of things the visitors were creating, Sneyd, Ken Sio and Jack Ormondroyd all helped themselves to tries and a cricket score looked on the cards.

To the Tigers’ credit, they dug in for the rest of the half and with better execution could have been back level.

Mamo began the revival when slicing through a gap to score the hosts’ first points.

Richardson goaled then more pressure almost brought another try with Suaia Matagi losing the ball in a tackle on the line.

Greg Eden squandered another chance when his pass over the top to the unmarked Derrell Olpherts sailed into touch. But he soon made amends with a similar move this time sending the winger over.

At 20-10 Cas looked back in it, but they were simply blown away in the second half.

Olpherts offered hope with an interception that saw him charge 70 metres downfield, but he was brought down short of the line. The winger was also unlucky to have an effort chalked off for a questionable forward pass.

It summed up the Tigers’ day when Salford were allowed a try moments later although the final pass to Deon Cross was clearly forward.

But the Red Devils produced some superb attacking rugby that Cas had no answer to for the rest of the game and there was a procession of tries from Shane Wright, Croft, Kallum Watkins and Sneyd, who kicked nine goals to complete a 26-point haul.

Castleford: Mamo; Faraimo, Sutcliffe, Fonua, Olpherts; Eden, Richardson; Griffin, McShane, Massey, Lawler, Mellor, Westerman. Subs: Watts, Milner, Matagi, Martin.

Salford: Brierley; Sio, Cross, Lafai, Sarginson; Croft, Sneyd; Ormondroyd, Ackers, Vuniyayawa, Taylor, Watkins, Wright. Subs: Atkin, Luckley, Gerrard, Dupree.

Referee: Liam Moore