Video: Camping trip helped Tigers bond says Dixon after stunning Wigan

Staggeringly, they had not endured defeat there in the sport’s most prestigious competition since 1986, when, co-incidentally, the same West Yorkshire opponents proved victorious 10-2 at their famous, now erstwhile, Central Park ground.

It was a remarkable statistic and, therefore, fitting that it was finally ruined by a remarkable performance on Saturday.

Brilliant Castleford, so determined, selfless and downright obdurate, produced a superb defensive performance, withstanding a copious amount of pressure before emerging – energy levels somehow still intact – to clinically dispatch the Cup holders and Super League champions with an impressively ruthless killer blow.

Daryl Powell’s side have already lit up the domestic competition this term, their exciting brand of football seeing them rise to third, and now only semi-final opponents Widnes Vikings stand between them and a rare Wembley jaunt.

Watch Dave Craven give his video verdict on Castleford Tigers...

The symmetries between now and that aforementioned triumph will not be lost on Castleford’s faithful, who understandably rejoiced in this result; when they won that quarter-final at Wigan fully 28 years ago they also went on to lift the trophy for only the fourth time in their history.

They have not done so since but, given their current verve, few would bet against a side transformed under Powell’s stewardship during the last 12 months.

Winger Kirk Dixon, who scored one of Castleford’s three tries, said: “One of the first things Daryl did was take us all camping in the North Yorkshire Dales.

“Some of the boys were wondering ‘camping, what’s the point of that?’ but it was a great few days. We got to spend time with each other and talked. There was nothing else to do.

“What he’s instilled in us is mainly the belief that we are a good team if we stick to the gameplan. Daryl and Danny Orr are two smart coaches and what they tell us works. We’re seeing the benefits of it now. We knew it was going to be a tough game and Wigan didn’t let us down; it was our hardest match yet this year.

“Their line speed was unreal and the boys had to take some real belts in that first half, but the spirit of the team shone through.

“I spoke to the gaffer afterwards and he said people made mistakes but everyone just covered them and did whatever was needed. It takes exactly that attitude to win one-off games.”

There was a four-minute spell just before the hour mark where Wigan, in two sets, seemed destined to score only to be denied time after time by some astonishing resilience that epitomised what Dixon referred to.

Luke Dorn, Grant Millington – twice in successive tackles – and Marc Sneyd with James Clare’s help all made try-saving tackles. Soon after, Oli Holmes, the young second-row who was colossal and fully deserving of the man-of-the-match award, tracked back to deny the tyro George Williams with a crucial tackle just short of Castleford’s goalline after Wigan had managed a rare break.

Next, in the same set, it was Dixon’s turn to show impeccable timing to come in off his wing and nullify Dan Sarginson and it was all so exhausting to watch.

“That was a massive spell for us – it won the game,” admitted Dixon.

“We knew we had to keep turning up and we did.”

Wigan did not breach their line until Liam Farrell finally slipped through in the 63rd minute but Matty Smith fluffed his kick to leave the visitors 6-4 ahead.

More pressure inevitably came as Wigan tried desperately to hold on to their trophy but Dixon’s expertly-taken try in the 70th minute, created by Dorn and a lovely slip pass from Jake Webster, at last eased the tension.

Even then, Sneyd could not convert, so it was not until Lee Jewitt, the former Wigan star playing only his third game for Castleford, dummied over with three minutes to go that their ecstatic fans could truly relax.

Powell, meanwhile, had invited Barry Johnson – one of that heroic ‘86 side – to speak to the players during the week while Tony Marchant, another of that vintage, was with them on game day.

Dixon said: “We knew we could take inspiration from them and how they tackled it; they are legends of this club and we wanted to put in a display for them, too.”

They certainly did that. Shaun Wane, the hosts’ coach who came off the bench in that star-studded Wigan defeat four decades earlier, admitted as much afterwards.

And Castleford, who led 6-0 after Clare’s first half converted try and had seen a Dorn effort ruled out due to the increasingly farcical interpretation of the obstruction law, are quickly back at Wigan in league action on Friday night.

Wigan Warriors: Bowen; Manfredi, Sarginson, Gelling, Burgess; Williams, Smith; Flower, McIlorum, Dudson, L. Farrell, Bateman, O’Loughlin. Substitutes: Hughes, Crosby, Hampshire, Sutton.

Castleford Tigers: Dorn; Dixon, Shenton, Webster, Clare; Sneyd, Finn; Lynch, Clark, Huby, Holmes, Hauraki, Jewitt. Substitutes: Millington, Mariano, Wheeldon, Ellis.

Referee: R Silverwood (RFL).