© SportingLife.com 2002
Warrington Wolves ensured their Super League safety with a stirring victory over the Tigers at Wilderspool.
The Wolves followed up last weekend's win over fellow strugglers Halifax by ending Castleford's five-match unbeaten run and so denting the Tigers' hopes of a top-six finish and a place in the end-of-season play-offs.
And with Salford losing at home it means the Wolves will preserve their record of never having been out of the top flight.
Warrington made a whirlwind start and were 12-0 ahead after just seven minutes.
Lee Briers and Dean Busby combined to send Darren Burns over for the opening try and then winger Graham Appo sprinted 70 metres to touch down.
Briers kicked both conversions and also landed a penalty to give the Wolves a healthy 14-0 advantage.
The Tigers grabbed their first points of the game when Michael Eagar's clever pass allowed Waine Pryce to dive over in the corner.
Then four minutes before half-time Pryce turned provider when his pass out of the tackle over the Wolves line allowed Eagar to score and reduce the deficit to 14-8 at half-time.
Castleford's cause was not helped when loose forward Ryan Hudson was sin-binned four minutes into the second half for a late challenge on Briers.
And the Wolves immediately made their extra man felt when Appo grabbed his second try of the game which was soon followed by a try from hooker Jon Clarke which Briers converted to make it 24-8.
Two further Briers penalties and a drop goal saw the Wolves home as Eagar's second try late in the game was just a consolation for the Tigers.
© SportingLife.com 2002
Castleford boosted their top-six bid with a six-try win over play-off rivals Widnes.
The Vikings' hopes of completing a hat-trick of victories over Castleford this season disappeared early in the second-half when loose forward Daniel Frame was sent to the sin-bin.
The Tigers capitalised by scoring two quick tries to increase their lead to a match-winning 26-4.
Steve McCurrie got two touchdowns in a Widnes fight back but it came too late.
The Tigers weathered early Widnes pressure before taking a fifth-minute lead when Australian centre Mike Eager went in at the corner.
Widnes cut the gap to two points five minutes later with an Adam Hughes goal after Wayne Bartrim was penalised for a high tackle.
Hughes missed a chance to level the scores when he failed with a 22nd minute penalty attempt before the Vikings went close to a try when Stuart Spruce and Paul Devlin linked to send Phil Cantillon clear but the final pass was ruled forward.
The Tigers went further ahead when full-back Darren Rogers finished a delightful move started by skipper Danny Orr.
Bartrim's touchline conversion put Castleford eight points in front but Widnes stayed in touch with Hughes' second penalty goal.
However, the Tigers took a 12-point lead four minutes before the interval when Mitch Healey and Kyle Warren sent substitute Mark Lennon racing in for a try that Bartrim converted.
When Frame was shown the yellow card after a 45th minute flare-up the Tigers soon cashed in.
Orr's cross field kick resulted in Jon Wells putting in Andy Johnson.
Twelve-man Widnes quickly fell further behind when winger Waine Pryce stretched his try-scoring sequence to eight games in a row by taking Eagar's pass to go in.
The Vikings finally got their first touchdown in the 62nd minute when McCurrie barged through and Hughes tagged on the goal.
But Castleford soon put the issue beyond doubt when Lennon sent prop Andy Lynch over and Bartrim kicked his fourth goal.
McCurrie grabbed his second try, Spruce also crossed and Hughes landed his fourth goal but it all came too late to rescue the Vikings.
© SportingLife.com 2002
Castleford condemned Salford to relegation as they snatched they snatched the sixth Super League play-off spot with a hard-fought win at The Willows on Sunday afternoon.
The Tigers, with six wins in their last seven matches behind them, went ahead after 12 minutes with a penalty from Wayne Bartrim after Mike Wainwright had been caught offside.
But the Reds produced a battling performance and clawed their way into the lead in the 19th minute when Darren Treacy, Steve Blakeley and Ian Watson combined for David Highton to go over. Blakeley tagged on the conversion to put the Reds 6-2 in front.
Both sides battled hard in a gripping affair but it was the Reds who had to do the most defending and they had a lucky escape when Tigers winger Jon Wells had a try disallowed for a forward pass by Andy Johnson.
Desperate Salford defence kept out the Tigers for most of the first half but they were eventually caught out just before the break when Darren Rogers broke through.
Bartrim fed Orr, whose pass to ex-Salford winger Rogers looked suspiciously forward but the try was awarded with Bartrim tagging on the goal to make it 8-6.
The Reds went ahead 10-8 with two Blakeley penalties early in the second half - the second after Dale Fritz and Andy Lynch were put on report for an alleged spear tackle on Malcolm Alker.
Then Castleford scored the crucial try when Bartrim powered over from dummy half with the Aussie winger adding the conversion to fire the Tigers ahead 14-10.
Salford tried desperately to snatch a winning score but the Tigers held out in front of 5,541 fans.
Castleford added a third try in injury time through Ryan Hudson after Wells collected Steve Blakeley's chip. Bartrim added his fourth goal from four attempts.
© SportingLife.com 2002 By Ian Laybourn, PA Sport
Wigan remain on course for the double after seeing off a spirited challenge from Castleford in Saturday's Super League play-off tie at the JJB Stadium.
The Challenge Cup holders, beaten Grand Finalists in each of the last two years, were good value for their victory, which earns them a home elimination semi-final with Leeds next Friday.
Castleford have not beaten Wigan since their famous play-off triumph of 1999 but they threatened to turn the clock back throughout an entertaining tie, which was not settled until second rower Dave Furner went in for their fourth try 10 minutes from the end.
The visitors crucially had a 67th-minute try by full-back Darren Rogers disallowed by video referee Steve Cross and Furner rubbed salt in their wounds by charging through a gap for the decisive score.
The Tigers, who triumphed 14-10 in the first-ever match to be held at the JJB Stadium three years ago, took a fourth-minute lead with a try from winger Waine Pryce and withstood a tremendous Wigan fight back to keep the tie in the balance at half-time.
Pryce, whose impressive form in the second half of the season mirrored the marked improvement of his team, raced onto a slide-rule kick from his captain, the ever-influential Danny Orr, to claim his 16th try of the season, 14 of which have come in his last 12 matches.
Wigan, who ended the regular season with three defeats in four games, went into the tie without six regulars because of injury but they looked to have put themselves firmly in the driving seat with two sparkling tries in four minutes.
Scrum-half Adrian Lam pounced after David Hodgson had palmed the ball back from Julian O'Neill's high kick to the corner and a superb offload by Kiwi Test prop Craig Smith enabled Hodgson to sprint 60 metres for a touchdown.
Skipper Andrew Farrell, who reclaimed the goal kicking duties from O'Neill, put over both conversions as the Warriors led 12-4 and they could have been even further in front.
Full-back Kris Radlinski, normally one of the safest handlers, dropped Farrell's pass with the Castleford defensive line breached and, midway through the first half, when he attempted to send hooker Terry Newton away for a try, Tigers full-back Darren Rogers came up with a precious interception.
It was from Rogers' timely intervention that the visitors scored their second try, centre Michael Eagar pulling himself free from the grip of winger Martin Aspinwall to crash over for a soft score.
Wayne Bartim kicked his first conversion to cut the deficit to just two points but Farrell was on target with a 38-metre penalty to make it 14-10 by the break.
Castleford, who lost Australian scrum-half Mitch Healey before kick-off with a back injury, had their moments early in the second half, largely through the clever prompting of Orr, but the best chances continued to fall to their opponents.
Wigan ought to have made more of another break by Radlinski, who linked superbly all evening with Farrell, while Lam caused all sorts of problems for the Tigers defence with his elusive running.
It was from a jinking run by Lam that the Warriors extended their lead on 50 minutes, although the move was smothered in good fortune.
Lam's pass just short of the line failed to find the supporting Radlinski but the ball rebounded off a defender and trickled over the line for second rower Danny Tickle to touch down.
Furner then went over for the clincher, with Farrell kicking his fifth goal, before Eagar salvaged some consolation by going over for his second try.
Defeat meant the end of the road for Australian forward Kyle Warren and former Wigan centre Barrie-Jon Mather, who both played their last matches for the Tigers tonight.