By Andy Hampson, PA Sport
Hull kept themselves firmly in the Tetley's Super League play-off race by grinding out victory over Castleford on Sunday.
Gareth Raynor and Ewan Dowes both crossed for Shaun McRae's side in the first half, but it took the reliable kicking of Paul Cooke to secure the points at the KC Stadium.
Stand-off Cooke landed seven goals, including three important penalties to kill off a Tigers revival sparked by Francis Maloney and Andy Lynch tries.
Shayne McMenemy and Richard Horne forced their way over for further Hull touchdowns late on to leave the Tigers facing an uphill challenge to reach the top six.
The Tigers had the better of possession in the opening quarter but they struggled to penetrate a Hull defence which, in Paul King and Craig Greenhill, featured two of Castleford's signings for next season.
It proved a particularly frustrating afternoon for Tigers centre Michael Eagar, who in contrast to Ryan and Greenhill has decided to swap Castleford for Hull next year.
Cooke opened the scoring with a penalty after seven minutes but Cas responded with a raid down the other end.
Danny Orr, who spurned Hull's advances for Wigan in 2004, launched a bomb into the corner for winger Waine Pryce but Raynor did enough to put off his opposite number.
Paul Mellor also threatened Hull with a quick break but the home side survived and grabbed the first try of the game with a swift counter-attack.
Horne raced 40 metres after a smart offload from Chris Chester and then found Raynor to his left, the former Leicester winger applying the finishing touches despite losing his footing.
Cooke added the conversion and followed up with a penalty just before the half-hour mark.
Cas deserved something for their industry however and it duly arrived when skipper Ryan Hudson put through Francis Maloney to reduce the deficit.
But Hull ensured they finished the first half on top as Dowes broke through two tackles to touch down by the posts and Cooke added his fourth goal.
The visitors hauled themselves back into the match after the restart when poor tackling by Hull allowed a chance for prop Andy Lynch to jink his way in under the posts.
Orr's conversion, quickly followed by a successful penalty, cut the Hull lead to 16-12 and Cas clearly sensed their chance.
A strong drive brought Hudson into scoring range but the Tigers skipper lost the ball as he dived for an equalising try.
Hull managed to weather the storm and eased some of the pressure with another three Cooke penalties between the 60th and 70th minutes.
That appeared to take the sting out of Castleford who, with just two games to secure a play-off spot, will have their work cut out against Bradford and Wigan.
Former Wakefield forward Shayne McMenemy killed off their hopes of taking any points from East Yorkshire when he forced his way over for a third Hull try four minutes from time.
Horne then rubbed salt in the wounds by racing clear to score in the last minute, with Greenhill this time landing the kick.
Castleford spoilt Bradford's party as they secured their first away win over the Bulls in Super League on Sunday night.
The Tigers overcame the early loss of centre Paul Mellor to run out convincing winners on the night the Bulls were presented with the league leaders' trophy at Odsal.
Mellor was stretchered off in the sixth minute and taken to hospital with a neck injury.
His presence was missed as the Tigers struggled to create meaningful attacking opportunities in the opening minutes.
Yet for all the Bulls' domination early on - they were boosted by a heavy penalty count in their favour and three 40-20 kicks from Paul Deacon - the Tigers defence proved resolute.
The Tigers' play-off hopes may now belong to the realms of mathematical fantasy but they stunned the Bulls with their determination and took the lead after 17 minutes.
Wigan-bound stand-off Danny Orr beat Bulls full-back Stuart Reardon to gather a kick from his half-back partner Mitch Healey and score and he then tagged on the goal to quieten the home crowd.
When Bradford blundered by being caught offside at the restart, Castleford pressed hard again with both loose forward Adrian Vowles and full-back Tom Saxton going close.
Teenage loose forward Jamie Langley sparked the Bulls into action with a strong burst down the left and after pack colleague Jamie Peacock had been held up over the line, the Bulls scored from the resultant scrum with left winger Shontayne Hape touching down a James Lowes kick.
Deacon was unable to convert and Orr soon edged Castleford 8-4 ahead with a penalty goal but Deacon cut the deficit with a penalty of his own just before the interval.
Within three minutes of the restart Deacon put the Bulls level with another penalty but they soon trailed again as Orr found the target once more.
Castleford soon extended their lead even further and tightened their grip on the match in decisive fashion with three tries in the space of 10 minutes from substitute hooker Wayne Godwin, tireless prop Andy Lynch and full-back Saxton.
Orr added the goals to open up a 28-8 margin after 60 minutes and the Bulls looked completely shell-shocked.
A late try by Leon Pryce sparked a brief home rally but Castleford hung on to grab a well-deserved victory.
Third-placed Wigan ended their league campaign on a high by recovering from 12-6 down at half time to overcome battling Castleford.
Two tries in three minutes in the second-half from Brett Dallas and David Hodgson gave the Warriors the edge.
The Tigers made a cracking start and missed a golden chance after only three minutes when Andy Johnson failed to take Mitch Healey's pass beneath the posts.
The hosts went ahead six minutes later, though, when further pressure resulted in Ryan Hudson, Healey and Damian Gibson combining to send in Waine Pryce.
Wigan's defence was split open again in the 11th minute when Johnson finished a move involving Danny Orr and Michael Eagar, with Orr added the conversion.
The visitors finally opened their account three minutes later when prop Terry O'Connor forced his way over, and Andy Farrell added the extras.
Castleford increased their lead to 12-6 with a 34-minute penalty by Wigan-bound Orr after the Warriors were penalised for ball stealing.
The Tigers - who announced at half-time that the GMB Trade Union will again be the club's main sponsors for the 2004 season - piled on the pressure at the start of the second half, but Wigan weathered the storm.
And the Warriors levelled the scores when substitute Adrian Lam's high kick created a try for winger Dallas which Farrell converted.
Wigan struck again just three minutes later when Lam and Gareth Hock created a touch down for Hodgson.
Farrell kicked his third goal before Lam stretched the lead to seven points with drop goal.
Orr forced his way over in the 73 minute to cut the gap to three points, but Wigan made sure they continued their unbeaten run under caretaker coach Mike Gregory when Danny Tickle went over in the final minute.