ART OF WAR
Tigers mauled by classy table-toppers
30 22 FURIOUS Daryl Powell laid into his Tigers after they crashed to their third successive defeat.
Castleford were joint top with Wigan before lockdown but they were outclassed here by a gritty Warriors side.
Powell said: “We have got to improve because that is a big step back.
“We went 12-0 up and then there’s a big turning point with a couple of errors that really hurt us. It took us until the game had gone to get the energy we wanted.”
Wigan are now four points clear at the top, and six clear of Castleford, but were up against it at the start.
Gareth O’brien and Nathan Massey both crossed for the Tigers, with Wigan’s problems growing with a match- ending injury to winger Liam Marshall. But they came roaring back with three tries in nine minutes from Sam Powell, Joe Burgess and Ben Flower for a 16-12 half time lead.
Castleford had to take this fixture with four days’ notice after Wigan’s original opponents, Catalans, pulled out with four positive Covid-19 tests.
The Tigers, who were due a weekend off, l ooked determined to get some reward with another strong start to the second half.
They recovered from the shock of seeing winger James Clare stretchered off after a crushing tackle from Morgan Smithies.
The Wigan youngster was sin-binned and Powell fumed: “It was a terrible tackle.
“There were a couple of
CROCKED: Tigers star James Clare crushers, which disappointing.”
Within a minute of play restarting, after a lengthy delay, Derrell Olpherts went over for an unconverted try to level the scores.
Mistakes
is
But again Cas lost their way. Mistakes by Paul Mcshane a nd Mike Mcmeeken set up a try for Liam Farrell and Joe Bullock barged over on the back of a 40-20 from Harry Smith.
Michael Shenton grabbed a late consolation, thanks to a deft kick by Jake Trueman.
Wigan coach Adrian Lam said: “We went behind by 12 at one stage and it could have become a long game but I am really pleased that we kept turning up for each other.” WIGAN: Tries: Powell, Burgess, Flower, Farrell, Bullock Goals: Hardaker (5)
CASTLEFORD: Tries: O’brien, Massey, Olpherts, Shenton Goals: Richardson (3)