Castleford Tigers 0 Wigan Warriors 22 - Schedule catches up with Cas as they suffer rare pointless night at home

On a four-match winning run, Castleford knew another victory would see them usurp Wigan from fourth spot with just three regular rounds to go.

Their opponents had also lost their last three fixtures and, ironically, not scored a try for more than 200 minutes of action.

However, Jackson Hastings got them off the mark in the 14th minute and, though Tigers dominated for the majority of the game, Powell could only watch on in dismay as his side continually fluffed chances.

“It is hard to describe,” he said, as Castleford went scoreless at Wheldon Road for only the second time in Super League history.

“It’s so disappointing. I think the schedule caught up with us a little (a third game in 10 days) but it does not excuse the amount of ball we put down.

“We were so far off from an attacking perspective.

“Wigan came at us but our clarity and execution was poor and our kicking game was off right from the start.

“We gave them a try from a pass that hit the floor.

“I’m not sure how many errors we made but it was significant and it’s difficult to win a game like that.

“There’s different reasons why this happened but it was really poor.”

Castleford were 6-0 down at the break and reduced to 12 men with just 14 seconds of the first half remaining when Jesse Sene-Lefao was yellow carded for a high tackle on Joe Bullock.

That said, Wigan’s Liam Byrne was sin-binned within just 53 seconds of the second half for a dangerous tackle around the lower leg of Nathan Massey, who excelled up front for the hosts.

Nevertheless, Tigers once more wasted the chance as Michael Shenton spilled in the next set.

Wigan got their second try when Liam Marshall picked up a loose Jordan Turner pass and raced 80m just before the hour mark. Oliver Gildart added a third before ex-Leeds Rhinos prop Brad Singleton scored with the final play.

Castleford badly missed England hooker Paul McShane, who will have his abdominal injury scanned today and replacement No 9 Adam Milner struggled with a back injury.

Almost every time they went wide in attacking situations, crucial distribution was off the mark.

Powell bemoaned: “We had a lot of pressure but just couldn’t do anything with it.

“We were pretty abject with the ball.

“Wigan were desperate; they needed to win as they have a tough run-in and they were the better team.

“But you can’t give a team that much - errors and passing behind players; you won’t win with that much poor stuff in there.

“We’re three games from the end of the season, though.

“I don’t think there’s any point jumping all over the group for one poor display.

“We want to keep the spirits up.

“The schedule was always going to be crazy.

“Sometimes you just have to look at it, bundle it all up and throw it in the bin and move on.

“And I’ll probably throw that DVD in the bin as soon as I can, to be honest.”

Castleford face Salford Red Devils at Magic Weekend on Saturday and this was Wigan’s first win at Wheldon Road in five years.

Castleford Tigers: Evalds; Olpherts, Mata’utia, Shenton, Turner; O’Brien, Richardson; Watts, Milner, Millington, Holmes, Sene-Lefao, Massey. Substitutes: Griffin, Foster, Eden, Matagai.

Wigan Warriors: Hardaker; Halsall, Bibby, Gildart, Marshall; Smith, Hastings; Singleton, Shorrocks, Partington, Bateman, Farrell, Smithies. Substitutes: Bullock, Byrne, Pearce-Paul, O’Neill.

Referee: James Child (Dewsbury).