Coachless Cas go down with a fight

Castleford still cannot win a match, but they will surely not have to wait much longer if they can sustain the improvement they showed against a Wigan side who sometimes seemed to have the Challenge Cup final on their minds.

"The win will come and we'll be in Super League next year," said Castleford's caretaker coach, Gary Mercer, after seeing his side come close to taking advantage of opponents whose own preparation had been complicated by the illness afflicting their coach, Mike Gregory.

Cas, without a Super League win, started with a determination that has sometimes been missing this season, although they fell behind when Brett Dallas intercepted Lee Harland's pass and went 80 yards to score.

Within four minutes Cas were level, Paul Mellor out-jumping Wigan's new wing, Desi Williams, to take Francis Maloney's kick and touchdown.

They had good opportunities after that, but needed a Wayne Godwin penalty to give them a lead which lasted almost to the half-hour, when Adrian Lam sent Kevin Brown through a gap with a pass that looked marginal at best. Wigan were settling now and when Terry Newton went over from close range they were close to taking complete control.

Early in the second-half, however, the raw Williams fumbled a routine kick and Tom Saxton pounced on the loose ball, with Wayne Godwin kicking the equalising goal. Unfortunately, Maloney made an equally glaring error from the kick-off and Wigan hit the front again through Dallas's second try.

Back came Cas through another Mellor try from another Maloney kick. Maloney missed the conversion but levelled with a penalty. Jamie Thackray went through some poor Wigan tackling to put them in front.

They did not stay there for long, with Sean O'Loughlin's pass to Adrian Lam rounding off one of Wigan's best moves. Lam and Gareth Hock linked up to give Newton his second try, but Mellor's hat-trick kept the Tigers in touch until Wigan clinched victory with late tries from Craig Smith and Radlinski.

Castleford: Saxton; Shenton, Rogers, Clayton, Mellor; Maloney, Brambami; Greenhill, Godwin, Lynch, M Smith, Harland, Hudson. Substitutes used: Sykes, Hepworth, Thackray, B Smith.

Wigan: Radlinski; Williams, O'Loughlin, Brown, Dallas; Orr, Lam; C Smith, Newton, Pongia, Cassidy, Tickle, Farrell. Substitutes used: Wild, O'Connor, Hock, Sculthorpe.

Referee: I Smith (Oldham).