Challenge Cup: St Helens knock out Castleford, Catalans beat Whitehaven
St Helens despatched Super League rivals Castleford Tigers 36-18 in the Challenge Cup.
Ben Barba scored a hat-trick with further tries coming from Regan Grace, Ryan Morgan and Danny Richardson.
Castleford were shut out in the first half but replied through Jacob Trueman, Greg Minikin and Mike McMeeken.
In France, Catalans Dragons thrashed League One side Whitehaven 56-10.
Catalans had scored three tries inside the opening nine minutes. Jodie Broughton went over twice before Michael McIlorum touched down.
Jessie Joe Parker and Dave Thompson replied but Josh Drinkwater and Mickael Goudemand made it 24-10 at halftime.
Further tries from Antoni Maria, Goudemand, Julian Bousquet, Vincent Duport and Tony Gigot stretched Catalans’ lead in the second half.
On Friday evening, Championship side Leigh Centurions beat Super League Salford Red Devils 23-10.
Salford went 10-0 up after just 14 minutes thanks to tries from Niall Evalds and George Griffin before Ben Reynolds and Harrison Hansen gave Leigh a two-point half-time lead.
Daniel Mortimer and Drew Hutchinson scored in the second half to complete the victory.
Leeds Rhinos needed to stave off a late Widnes Vikings to win 23-20.
Tries from Tom Briscoe and Richie Myler gave Leeds a halftime lead with Matt Whitley crossing for Widnes.
Ashton Golding and Stevie Ward then extended the lead to 19 points but tries from Whitley, Alex Gerrard and Charly Runciman hauled Widnes back into the match before a tense finish.
Huddersfield Giants’ second-half performance led them to a 24-14 victory over Wakefield Wildcats.
Mason Caton-Brown’s try and a Liam Finn penalty gave Widnes a two-point lead at the break after Adam O’Brien scored for Huddersfield.
Matty English, Ukuma Ta’ai and Lee Gaskell crossed in the second half though to give Huddersfield the win with Ryan Hampshire grabbing a late consolation try.
