Castleford Tigers (12) 32
T : Justin Carney 3, Kirk Dixon, Jordan Tansey, Daryl Clark
G : Marc Sneyd 4

Catalans Dragons (6) 6

T : Morgan Escaré
G : Scott Dureau

Justin Carney scored a hat-trick as Castleford Tigers continued their impressive start to the First Utility Super League season with a 32-6 victory over Catalan Dragons at The Mend-A-Hose Jungle.

The Tigers opened their campaign with a 36-18 victory at Bradford Bulls and they backed that performance up against their French visitors, who left West Yorkshire with a point after a 17-17 draw in the corresponding fixture last February.

Carney had the first and final word of the opening half as he ensured the Dragons left without reward on this occasion, with fellow winger Kirk Dixon and Catalan counterpart Morgan Escare crossing in between.

Jordan Tansey settled Castleford's nerves early in the second half before Daryl Clark and Carney added gloss to the scoreline.

Castleford coach Daryl Powell was forced into one change as Tansey came in at full-back for the injured Luke Dorn.

Catalan headed into the contest without suspended forward Olivier Elima and scrum-half Thomas Bosc, who picked up an injury in last weekend's narrow defeat at Hull.

The Tigers enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges and hit the front on eight minutes when Marc Sneyd gathered his own high kick and sent out a long pass out to Carney, who showed good strength to finish.

Tansey was twice forced to collect hanging kicks under pressure as Catalan looked to use the blustery conditions to their advantage.

Castleford extended their lead in the 22nd minute as Hauraki flicked the ball out to Dixon on the short side and the winger finished in the corner.

Carney thought he had crossed for his second of the afternoon from a miss-out pass by Tansey just minutes later but the officials adjudged the ball went forward.

Catalan went straight down the other end and hauled themselves back into the match as Escare raced clear to finish from Leon Pryce's long pass, to jeers from the home fans.

Both sides were reduced to 12 men after Eloi Pelissier and Scott Wheeldon had a scuffle and that appeared to lift the home side.

Strong defence by Hauraki trapped Webb in goal and the forward's commitment was rewarded as Castleford marched back downfield before Shenton fed Carney to touch down on the stroke of half-time.

Carney turned provider for Castleford's next try four minutes after the restart as he got his ball-carrying arm free in the tackle to offload to Shenton, who passed inside for Tansey to finish under the sticks.

Sneyd was handed the kicking duties after the break and he converted Tansey's try before kicking a straightforward penalty to give Castleford a 14-point advantage.

Dixon had a second ruled out before Tigers hooker Clark scored the try of the match. He collected Scott Dureau's kick on halfway and evaded the Catalan chasers to sprint clear.

Carney completed his treble a minute from time when he outmuscled Michael Outfield to ground the ball in the corner, with Sneyd adding the extras to round off an excellent afternoon for the Tigers.