PA Sport
London halted their Super League slide with an eight-try victory over fellow strugglers Castleford in the clash of the bottom two at The Jungle on Tuesday night.
The Broncos climbed above Salford with their first away win since last September, but the Tigers remain at the foot of the table after a sixth successive defeat.
Castleford made a cracking start with two tries in the first seven minutes.
Captain Ryan Hudson forced his way over from acting half-back for the opening score which Francis Maloney converted.
Jon Hepworth's deflected kick then resulted in Craig Greenhill, Hudson and Paul Newlove sending in Darren Rogers.
London stormed back with three tries in a devastating 10-minute spell.
Dennis Moran's kick created the first for Lee Greenwood, and Paul Sykes added the goal.
The Broncos levelled matters six minutes later when Sean Rudder's kick was charged down by Steele Retchless who put in Joe Mbu.
London snatched the lead midway through the half, Nigel Roy and Moran linking superbly to send Greenwood in for his second - converted by Sykes.
Castleford cut the gap to two points with a 31st-minute try by Tom Saxton after slick handling by Hudson and Rudder.
They regained the lead six minutes later with a try from Rudder. But London came back again to snatch a 20-18 interval advantage when former Tigers wing Jon Wells crossed at the corner from Jim Dymock's pass.
London stretched their lead in the first minute of the second half when Mitch Stringer's powerful burst set up a try for Moran.
They shot further ahead five minutes later when Scott Murrell capitalised on Dymock's kick to score.
The Broncos wrapped things up with further tries from Moran and Roy and Sykes' fifth goal.
Castleford scored three tries in the last five minutes through Sean Ryan, Newlove and Saxton's second.
Newlove's touch down on his home debut was his 100th in Super League - but it was all too late for the Tigers and their under-pressure coach Graham Steadman
PA Sport
Wakefield piled the pressure on beleaguered Castleford coach Graham Steadman as the Tigers slumped to a seventh successive Tetley's Super League defeat.
The Tigers were outfought by their local rivals in a fierce contest at the Jungle that left them rooted to the foot of the table without a point.
Tries from Sean Ryan and Dean Ripley kept them in the game early on but the Wildcats were the stronger team and ultimately ran out convincing winners.
Gareth Ellis, Semi Tadulala and Ben Jeffries all claimed two tries apiece for Shane McNally's side and there were further scores for Jason Demetriou and Michael Korkidas.
The Wildcats put the Tigers, making four changes and a number of positional switches after Tuesday's dismal loss to London Broncos, under heavy pressure from the kick-off.
Cas managed to survive the Wildcats' first possession but it came at a cost as Sean Rudder limped off injured.
Wakefield's attacking intent was also clear enough and they were soon rewarded for their early dominance.
Demetriou created the opening try after 10 minutes when he spun out of a tackle and managed to get the ball out wide for Ellis to cross.
Jamie Rooney missed the conversion but later landed a penalty as Wakefield continued to press.
A quick Wildcats break almost yielded further reward but Ripley just managed to beat a diving Tadulala to David Solomona's kick into the in-goal area.
The Tigers were looking distinctly second best but they rallied and surprisingly managed to force themselves in front.
Ryan Hudson stemmed the Wildcats' flow when his dab through caught the home defence unawares and Ryan slid in ahead of team-mate Jamie Thackray to touch down.
Francis Maloney converted and Wakefield, who had now lost Rooney with an Achilles injury, were caught out again when Ryan Clayton passed inside for Ripley to score.
Yet aside from those two attacks, Castleford had spent most of the first half defending and Wakefield deservedly got themselves back level at 10-10 before half-time.
Jeffries did all the work himself as he darted through a gap to score out wide.
Ellis and Craig Huby were hurt after an accidental clash of heads in a ferocious opening to the second half and Demetriou was fortunate to escape censure following a high shot on Paul Newlove.
Wakefield spurned two opportunities to reclaim the lead when Demetriou offloaded straight into the arms of Cas winger Darren Rogers and Albert Talipeau knocked on.
But Wakefield did eventually get themselves back in front when they drove to the line and Tadulala managed to stay in play to score from Solomona's pass.
Things then got worse for the hapless Tigers as Demetriou stole the ball from Ripley to claim his side's fourth try. David March, kicking for Rooney, added the extras.
Wakefield lost another player in David Wrench to injury on the hour but they maintained the momentum to kill off the Tigers when Ellis stretched out an arm to score his second.
The Wildcats were beginning to break beaten Castleford's line at will and three more tries followed in quick succession.
Tadulala was given the freedom of the left wing and he cantered over for his second and Ellis broke the line to send Korkidas over.
Jeffries then wrapped up what had become a rout with a final try late on. March converted and finished with four goals
PA Sport
Jules O'Neill inspired Widnes to another home victory as his Vikings tamed Gary Mercer's Castleford Tigers at the Halton Stadium.
O'Neil wrapped up 17 points to send Castleford crashing to another Tetley's Super League defeat, and Mercer's side must do some deep soul searching if they are to claw their way out of the current situation.
After a real tussle in the opening quarter, with both sides launching a flurry of attacks, the deadlock was finally broken after the lively O'Neill knocked over a penalty.
It took 36 minutes for the opening try of the game and that came from well-travelled centre Darren Rogers, who raced 80 metres to touch down after a Stephen Myler mistake.
Francis Maloney had no difficulties with the conversion to give Cas a four-point lead.
But the Vikings hit back with a well-worked try of their own just before half-time through Nicky Royle, who touched down unopposed after the good Aaron Moule offload.
O'Neill was successful with the conversion to restore the lead which was extended with only 60 seconds gone in the second period as Myler scampered over.
O'Neill landed the conversion to put some daylight between the two teams.
Widnes began to find their range and when O'Neill linked up with Myler the burly Steve McCurrie was on hand to crash over from short range.
O'Neill was flawless with the boot to give Neil Kelly's men a commanding 20-6 lead.
O'Neill, who was the heartbeat of every Vikings attack, decided to get in on the act himself when he dummied his way over on 52 minutes. The former Wigan Warrior dusted himself down and knocked over the conversion.
But three minutes later rookie full-back Tom Saxton found himself in acres of space to give the Tigers a flicker of hope. Maloney converted to put Cas within 14 points of the home side.
Things became very interesting with only 14 minutes remaining as Castleford began to turn up the pressure on nervous Widnes.
After some hard-hitting drives from Ryan Hudson and Andy Lynch, Jamie Thackray dived over to give the Tigers the momentum.
Maloney struck with a conversion to reduce the deficit to eight points.
But the Tigers' efforts came too late in the day and O'Neill sealed the two points for the Vikings with a late drop goal and a 30 metre penalty to send Castleford home empty handed.
PA Sport
Australian three-quarter Paul Mellor's first hat-trick in England was all in vain as Challenge Cup finalists Wigan held off a terrific performance by bottom-of-the-table Castleford in an end-to-end Tetley's Super League clash at the Jungle.
Mellor, who scored three tries in his previous 21 games for the Tigers, doubled his tally as the Tigers belied their perilous League position to give Wigan the fright of their lives.
The win-less and patched-up Tigers, who were without eight of their senior squad through injury, twice fought back to level the scores and twice went in front before bowing to the Warriors' greater finishing power.
While Wigan lifted themselves into the top six for the first time this year, Castleford were left licking the wounds of a ninth successive defeat but on this performance they can have few worries over relegation.
The Warriors' hero was hooker Terry Newton, who scored two tries and went within an ace of a second successive hat-trick, but the visitors were also indebted to skilful scrum-half Adrian Lam, who rolled back the years with a superb performance.
Wigan's pacy Australian winger Brett Dallas crossed the Castleford line within a minute of the kick-off only to be recalled for a forward pass but there was no stopping the former North Sydney flier on four minutes when he intercepted Ryan Hudson's pass and raced 70 metres for the opening try.
But the Tigers, who gave debuts to winger Michael Shenton and prop forward Byron Smith and a first start to scrum-half Dominic Brambani, produced some delightful football in which hooker Wayne Godwin was particularly prominent.
They hit back when Mellor marked his first home appearance of the season by collecting Francis Maloney's kick to the corner for his first try since last August and he would have had a second but for a terrific last-ditch tackle by Wigan full-back Kris Radlinski.
Godwin levelled the scores with the conversion and edged his side in front with an 18th-minute penalty and it was only after he was substituted that Castleford went off the boil.
Centre Kevin Brown took Adrian Lam's short pass to crash over for a try on 29 minutes and the home side had barely recovered from that shock when Newton burrowed his way over from close range for his first touchdown.
Fortunately for Castleford, Warriors captain Andy Farrell could only land one of his three conversion attempts.
They deservedly drew level for a second time within a minute of the re-start when Tom Saxton, switched from full-back to centre at the start of the second half, pounced on a handling error from 18-year-old winger Desi Williams to touch down for a soft try.
As the game swung from end to end, the prolific Dallas claimed his second try - his eighth in the last four games - and Farrell's goal made it 20-14 to the visitors.
But the Tigers were full of fight and they turned the six-point deficit into a four-point lead in the space of eight glorious minutes. Mellor outjumped Williams for his second try and substitute forward Jamie Thackray fended off Stephen Wild's attempted tackle to plough his way to the line.
Maloney, taking over the goalkicking from the absent Godwin, missed both conversions but put over a penalty before it was Wigan's turn for a purple patch.
Newton and Sean O'Loughlin kept the ball alive for Lam to score his first try of the season and second rower Gareth Hock broke through for Newton to grab his second try, to which Farrell added his fourth goal.
Mellor kept the game well and truly alive when he leapt high above Brown to complete his hat-trick and Newton thought he had followed suit when he crashed over the line, only for video referee Gerry Kershaw to rule a knock-on.
But Wigan were in the ascendancy by then and late tries from prop Craig Smith and Radlinski gave them a flattering margin of victory.
Castleford caretaker-coach Gary Mercer admitted his players were "gutted" after going down 42-28 to Wigan in an end-to-end Super League clash at the Jungle.
The injury-hit Tigers, who sacked Graham Steadman in a bid to halt their dismal run, led 24-20 midway through the second half but conceded 22 points in the final quarter and remain bottom of the table after a ninth successive defeat.
"I am absolutely gutted and so are the players," said Mercer.
"They were fantastic today and I cannot thank them enough. The effort was tremendous. We had Wigan on the ropes but just couldn't put them away."
Australian three-quarter Paul Mellor scored a hat-trick of tries to double his tally for the club while Tom Saxton and Jamie Thackray also touched down for the Tigers, who twice fought back to level and twice edged in front during a frenetic game.
The 6ft 2in Mellor leapt above his opposite number to claim all three tries and Mercer said: "The game plan was to play to him and it obviously paid off."
Hooker Terry Newton and winger Brett Dallas both scored two tries apiece as Wigan secured their fourth win of the season to climb into the top half of the table for the first time and leave assistant coach Denis Betts a relieved man.
"Coming to Wheldon Road was a very tough ask but, at the end of the day, we got a good win and scored 42 points," he said.
"Castleford have had a change of coaching staff and I know Gary Mercer is a very passionate person. I could hear him screaming and shouting at half-time and they responded.
"There were patches when we weren't great but there were patches when we looked really, really good."
Wigan's 18-year-old winger Desi Williams, who was making only his second Super League appearance, was taken off 11 minutes into the second half after being outjumped by Mellor and gifting Castleford a soft try when he lost the ball inches from his own line.
Betts said: "It was a harsh lesson but Desi will learn from this."
Super League champions Bradford emerged from their recent slump to reclaim second place in the table and leave bottom club Castleford still searching for their first win of the season.
A first-half hat-trick from Stuart Reardon ensured the visitors would not repeat their 28-14 win at Odsal last September, which remains their last success in Super League.
The 22-year-old Reardon, deputising for injured right winger Tevita Vaikona, doubled his tally for the season before half-time as Bradford produced their best spell of attacking rugby since their opening-day win over Wigan.
Reardon added a fourth try early in the second half and fellow winger Lesley Vainikolo crossed twice on his return from injury to go back to the top of the tryscoring charts with 15.
A 10th consecutive defeat leaves injury-hit Castleford rooted to the foot of the table yet they played with tremendous spirit and were clearly unfortunate to face the Bulls in such rampant form.
While Reardon caught the eye with some clinical finishing, the groundwork was laid by 21-year-old second-rower Jamie Langley, whose rampaging running caused all sorts of problems for the hard-worked Tigers defence, and the classy Leon Pryce, who switched to great effect between centre and stand-off.
It was Langley's second-minute break that paved the way for Pryce to put Reardon away for the first try and the strong-running back rower touched down himself twice in quick succession to consolidate his side's early lead.
When the impressive Pryce combined twice with skipper Robbie Paul to get Reardon in for a second try on 17 minutes, the game seemed over as a contest.
But Paul Deacon was able to convert only one of his side's four tries and Castleford hooker Wayne Godwin burrowed his way over on 19 minutes to add to centre Darren Rogers' ninth-minute try to give his side hope.
Godwin also kicked two goals to cut the deficit to eight points but Pryce once more showed his class by scything through the Castleford defence seven minutes before the break and Reardon raced onto his kick to complete his hat-trick.
And it was Pryce, racing onto a superb popped pass by giant prop Paul Anderson, who was once more the provider as Reardon claimed his fourth try 10 minutes into the second half.
Such was the potency of the Bulls' attack that it was inevitable Vainikolo would get in on the act and he duly took his tally for the season to 15 by finishing off two superb breaks by centre Paul Johnson.
The Tigers, who gave debuts to two teenagers, full-back Rob Worrincy and half-back Andy Kain, continued to show lots of spirit and deserved a third try through winger Paul Mellor, who leapt in the air to take Dominic Brambani's high kick.
But they never fully recovered from the early blow of losing skipper Ryan Hudson after only four minutes after taking a boot to his face and they also lost second rower Jamie Thackray inside the first quarter with an arm injury.
They were also unfortunate to find Bradford in such good form but makeshift full-back Jon Hepworth showed the battling qualities that could yet save them from relegation when he bravely stopped Vainikolo in full flight for the line to at least save one certain try.