Greg Eden continued his remarkable scoring record with a third-successive hat-trick as leaders Castleford Tigers came from behind to beat Widnes Vikings 32-22 at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle.
On his 100th career appearance, Super League's leading scorer took his overall tally for the season to 24 tries in just 16 appearances.
Eden's scores proved vital as the Tigers came from 22-10 behind early in the second half to eke out a fifth-straight victory while condemning Widnes to a fifth-successive defeat.
It certainly wasn't a pretty win! Greg Eden was our sponsors Man of the Match, but you can vote here for your Fans Man of the Match pic.twitter.com/TdZOVfFAol
— Castleford Tigers (@CTRLFC) May 26, 2017
Eden opened the scoring in the 11th minute before Widnes rallied and went over through Ryan Ince and Jack Johnson. Gadwin Springer's try right on half-time got the Tigers back into the game.
Corey Thompson and Johnson stretched the Vikings' lead but Castleford then hit back and tries from Greg Minikin, Eden (2) and Matt Cook saw them take the points.
#SLCasWid
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) May 26, 2017
Another hat-trick for @GregEden1 as leaders @CTRLFC pull the win out of the fire against @WidnesRL pic.twitter.com/MyqiYlZR6C
Castleford coach Daryl Powell said: “The one thing that will go in his (Greg Eden for England) favour is the fact that Wayne Bennett knows him really well.
“I know from speaking to Wayne that he really rates him and it’s difficult to see anyone being any better than Greg at the moment.
“He’s been a great addition for us and the way he caught the ball from Luke Gale’s kick for his second try was an incredible piece of skill.
“He gets plenty of opportunities on that left edge but he finds his way to the line and has been fantastic for us – he’s strong, quick and his kick-returns are pretty exceptional.
“It was a tough game and I thought Widnes were fantastic and played really well.
“We were a bit off and couldn’t find our rhythm – some of that was because of last week’s game against Leeds and some of it was because of how Widnes played – so we had to dig our way out of it.
“In the last 10 minutes, we got our noses in front and finished the game off. Ultimately it’s about winning and that was absolutely crucial. We will make a few changes on Monday.”
Well done to my boy @GregEden1 another Hat-Trick on his 100th Career Appearance! Nice brother 🤘#TriesForDaysNThat
— Zak Hardaker (@zakhardaker1) May 26, 2017
Widnes boss Denis Betts said: “I asked for certain things and was really proud of the effort because we worked really hard.
“There are not a lot of sides who have come here and not had fifty points put on them.
“What we lacked was a bit of game-management at key points in the game and our attack is really disjointed because we are having to chop and change.”
