Wigan Warriors 26 Castleford Tigers 12: Tigers suffer as Warriors restore some lost pride

The Warriors suffered their heaviest defeat in over a decade in going down at Belle Vue last Sunday although two tries from John Bateman and one apiece for Lewis Tierney and Nick Gregson helped them get back to winning ways.

Matty Smith converted all four tries and added a penalty to boot, with Castleford’s scores from Denny Solomona and Grant Millington, with Luke Gale adding the extras, proving mere consolation.

Castleford started the strongest as Gale put a kick in for Solomona to touch down.

The Warriors were soon back on level terms when Tierney collected a ball from Lee Mossop before latching onto his own kick.

Before Smith added the extras to make it 6-6, referee Phil Bentham sent Gale to the sin-bin for arguing that Mossop’s ball to Tierney had gone forward.

The Warriors ended the half with Joel Tomkins, Smith and Tierney going close and they took an 8-6 lead with Smith kicking a penalty on the hooter.

Castleford went back in front in the 46th minute when Millington went over after sharp work from Joel Monaghan and Greg Minikin on the right following Gale’s high bomb.

It looked like Joel Tomkins was going down a dead end before he offloaded to Bateman, who then stepped and showed a great turn of pace to score under the posts.

Wigan put the game out of Castleford’s reach in the final 10 minutes with youngster Gregson throwing a dummy on the left to grab his first try for the club, Smith maintaining his 100 per cent record with the boot by adding the extras to take the Warriors 20-12 ahead.

Wigan’s Bateman touched down in the dying seconds, with Smith converting.

Wigan: Sarginson, Tierney, Bateman, Gildart, Charnley, Gregson, Smith, Mossop, Powell, Clubb, J. Tomkins, Isa, Sutton. Substitutes: Crosby, Tautai, Burke, Bretherton.

Castleford: Hampshire, Monaghan, Minikin, Webster, Solomona, T. Holmes, Gale, Lynch, Milner, Jewitt, O. Holmes, McMeeken, Massey. Substitutes: McShane, Millington, Maher, Cook.

Referee: P Bentham (RFL).