Castleford Tigers 22 Wigan Warriors 22: Mathers recovers with equalising Tigers try

The Warriors, who rested Sam Tomkins and George Carmont following their involvement in the England international on Friday, ran in four first-half tries from Brett Finch, Josh Charnley, Paul Prescott and Joel Tomkins.

Castleford struggled in the slippery conditions and, despite crossing through Dean Widders in the opening period, Wigan had more than a scent of victory after building up a 22-4 interval lead.

Yet Matterson’s side rallied strongly after the break and tries from Joe Arundel (two), Martin Aspinwall and Richie Mathers drew them level, with Kirk Dixon missing four conversions.

Matterson, who brought mercurial stand-off Rangi Chase off the bench to orchestrate the fightback, said: “I didn’t think we were that poor in the first half and I thought the scoreline was harsh on us.

“We made too many mistakes and you can’t do that against such a good team as Wigan.

“But I knew we were on the right track because our attitude was really good coming into the game.

“The boys never gave up and we made a game of it in the second half.”

Mathers had endured a torrid first half, costing his side at least one try and making a number of handling errors, as he was replaced before coming back on in the second period.

But he was on hand to collect Chase’s pass and dive over in the left corner with just seconds remaining for his side’s fifth try.

Matterson added: “Richie didn’t drop his head and did some good things when he came back on. That’s the mark of the player he is.”

Wigan boss Michael Maguire could barely hide his frustration after his men surrendered victory.

He said: “I’m very disappointed and it’s not acceptable from our team to turn out a second-half performance like that.

Castleford: Mathers, Dixon, Thompson, Arundel, Owen, McGoldrick, Orr, Jackson, Milner, Emmitt, Ferres, Aspinwall, Hudson. Substitutes: Chase, Fozzard, Massey, Widders.

Wigan: Roberts, Charnley, J. Tomkins, Goulding, Richards, Finch, Deacon, Mossop, Leuluai, Lima, Hansen, Hoffman, Tuson. Substitutes: McIlorum, O’Loughlin, Prescott, Farrell.

Referee: P Bentham (Warrington).