Wigan Lose It Late
Castleford maintained their early-season sparkle with a first home win over Wigan for eight years after edging a 12-try thriller thanks to Luke Dorn's last-minute score.
The Tigers made it four wins in a row to join St Helens at the top of the First Utility Super League with one of only three 100 per cent records but only after a sensational finish at the Jungle. Wigan looked to have snatched at least a point when Matty Smith added a touchline conversion to Josh Charnley's late try which levelled the scores before putting over a 40-metre drop goal with just a minute left on the clock.
However, there was just enough time for one last attack and Castleford made the most of it as Dorn took Marc Sneyd's pass to cross for the try that clinched a deserved 36-31 victory for the home side.
Matty Bowen and Tony Clubb scored their first tries for Wigan but they looked to be suffering from delayed jet lag following their return from the World Club Challenge in Sydney. They did well to recover after falling 16-0 behind inside 12 minutes to lead 24-22 at half-time but ultimately paid the price for an indisciplined and error-strewn performance against well-drilled opponents.
Castleford's explosive left winger Justin Carney set up the position for the game's first try, charging 40 metres after gathering Blake Green's high kick on his own 10-metre line.
Second rower Weller Hauraki combined with full-back Luke Dorn to create a clear run to the line for winger Kirk Dixon, who was recalled by coach Daryl Powell at the expense of last week's hat-trick hero Richard Owen.
Carney was then sin-binned for swinging a punch at Wigan second rower John Bateman but the Tigers increased their lead with two more tries while down to 12 men. Dorn caught the Warriors defence napping with a close-range effort and Bowen gifted a try to hooker Adam Milner by fumbling Sneyd's kick.
Two goals from Sneyd put the home side into a 16-0 lead but Wigan stormed back to within two points with three tries in a seven-minute spell. Bowen pounced on Smith's kick to score his first try in Super League, Green dummied his way over for his first of the season and Smith touched down after the ball had bounced into his arms off Carney.
Smith was able to land only one conversion, however, and the Warriors found themselves further in arrears when replacement hooker Daryl Clark burrowed his way over from dummy half on 27 minutes.
Sneyd's third goal made it 22-14 but the Warriors ended the first half with a flourish, with Clubb taking Logan Tomkins' short pass to crash over for his first try for the club and Joe Burgess producing a devastating finish to a 60-metre move.
That put Wigan in front for the first time and they ought to have capitalised early in the second half. Burgess was denied a second try by a wonderful tackle from Dorn while centre Iain Thornley failed to make use of an overlap on the other other flank.
The Warriors continued to concede penalties and they were punished on 58 minutes when centre Michael Channing took Hauraki's cut-out pass to score Castleford's fifth try which restored their lead. Sneyd kicked his fourth conversion and added a penalty on the hour to make it 30-24 after Wigan prop Ben Flower had been sin-binned for a "cannonball" tackle.
The Tigers made good use of the extra man but captain Michael Shenton was denied what looked to be a certain try by Smith's last-ditch tackle and Channing took Dorn's pass to cross again at the corner only for referee Robert Hicks to blow up for an obstruction. It looked to be a costly miss when Charnley collected Smith's kick to touch down at the corner but Dorn came to the Tigers' rescue with his second try of the match.