Castleford were left needing a miracle to retain their Tetley's Super League status after an agonising defeat to relegation rivals Salford today.
Tigers winger Paul Mellor scored the opening two tries of a ferocious encounter at the The Jungle and later completed a hat-trick but Salford rallied in the second half to claim the crucial two points.
The defeat left the Tigers, four points adrift of next week's opponents Widnes, needing to win their last two matches to have hope of avoiding relegation for the first time in their history.
Salford, for whom Karl Fitzpatrick crossed twice, are now safe along with London Broncos.
The Reds edged a thrilling game by four tries to three with the goalkicking of Chris Charles proving the only difference.
Neither side could make much headway in a fierce opening quarter which saw plenty of hard tackles but few real chances.
It was not until the 24th minute that the Tigers finally prised open the Salford defence as veteran Brad Davis flighted a kick to the corner and Mellor gathered superbly to touch down.
Mellor timed his leap to perfection to clasp the ball above the Reds defence and Wayne Godwin did equally as well to add the conversion from the touchline.
The Tigers continued to put pressure on the Reds' right wing and earned were awarded a penalty when Stuart Littler obstructed Mellor off the ball as David hoisted another high kick.
Mellor appeared to retaliate by elbowing Littler but the Tigers threequarter escaped censure and was on hand to score his side's second try moments later.
Again Davis was the architect, spinning out a strong pass to Mellor, who barged through one weak tackle to reach the line.
It presented another difficult conversion attempt but this time Francis Maloney added the extras to open up a 12-0 lead.
Yet little has been straightforward for the Tigers this season and Salford roared back with three converted tries in the space of nine minutes either side of half-time.
Their first came when Tigers full-back Damian Gibson spilt a Fitzpatrick kick and Malcolm Alker found an opening in front of the posts to score.
Fitzpatrick then found his way over with a jinking run five minutes into the second half and the Reds powered into the lead when Gavin Clinch sent over Andy Coley.
Cas were not about to throw in the towel however and were back level within moments as Craig Greenhill broke through the Reds defence to set up a try for Maloney which Godwin converted.
Littler was sent to the sin bin for taking out Mellor off the ball for a second time as he looked to pull in another Davis kick to score.
The Tigers could not make the extra man count however and they were punished as Fitzpatrick started and finished a brilliant move for his second try.
The full-back gathered his own kick, passed out wide and was then on hand to score as Cliff Beverley cut inside from out wide.
Cas needed to dig deep and were rewarded when Mellor crept over for his hat-trick in the corner but Godwin, crucially, could not convert.
Castleford grabbed a Super League lifeline with a dramatic one-point victory over Widnes in a nail-biting basement battle at the Halton Stadium.
The Tigers, who have never been out of the top-flight in their 78-year history, looked to be on their way down when they trailed 6-0 after 65 minutes.
But they battled back to level the scores with a try from substitute Jon Hepworth and held their nerve sufficiently to enable Francis Maloney to land a precious drop goal 10 minutes from the end.
As the tension rose to unbelievable proportions, Widnes had a last chance to win the match when centre Adam Hughes pounced on Jules O'Neill's kick to the corner, but video referee Geoff Berry disallowed the try, claiming the player failed to have control of the ball.
Castleford, who have been bottom of the table all season, will still be relegated if they fail to beat Wakefield next Saturday, but they at least succeeded in taking the battle to the last match of the regular season.
Their derby with the Wildcats has been brought forward from Sunday to kick off at the same time as the Vikings' clash with Hull at the KC Stadium.
If Castleford beat Wakefield and Widnes fail to beat Hull, the relegation issue will be determined by points difference, with the Vikings currently 24 points better off.
With neither side able to stamp their authority on an understandably nervous occasion, it was no surprise that the only try of the first half came from a defensive error, with Castleford stand-off Brad Davis failing to drop on a loose ball near his own line.
Instead the 36-year-old knocked the ball into the grateful arms of Widnes scrum-half Stephen Myler, who was chasing his own grubber kick on the last tackle.
O'Neill added the simple conversion to give the Vikings a precious six-point interval lead.
Castleford rarely threatened in the first half as they struggled for long periods to even get out of their own half.
The Vikings had the bulk of possession and looked the more dangerous side, although they only once got close to the visitors' line before the try came.
That was after eight minutes when full-back Damian Gibson and prop Andy Lynch combined to turn hooker Shane Millward on his back over the line.
The Vikings' chief tactic was to bombard Waine Pryce with high kicks, but the young Tigers winger coped admirably under pressure.
Castleford relied almost exclusively on the crashing drives of heavyweight forwards Mark Tookey and Michael Smith but the Vikings defence held firm.
A midfield break by Hepworth midway through the second half gave the 500 visiting fans something to cheer, but it appeared to be only a brief moment of danger.
Myler hit an upright with a drop-goal attempt which followed his own 40-20 kick, and Castleford made the most of the let-off by working their way upfield, from where Hepworth took Craig Greenhill's neat offload to score the most important try of his career.
That gave Mercer's men just the fillip they needed and they maintained the pressure to work Maloney into a position to land a 30-metre drop goal which edged his side in front for the first time.
Castleford were condemned to relegation for the first time in their 78-year history after letting slip an 18-10 lead in their final, must-win match against local rivals Wakefield.
Hull's equally tense 20-18 victory over Widnes, the only other team in danger of the drop, gave the Tigers a chance to pull off the great escape after being bottom of the table all season.
They put up a magnificent show in front of a near-capacity 11,055 crowd at the Jungle but were denied by the Wildcats, who were in no mood to hand out charity to their needy neighbours.
Castleford almost produced the impossible by gaining five wins from their last 10 matches but in the end were made to pay a heavy price for a woeful start to the season in which they lost their opening 11 games.
And they now face an uncertain future as the current side is broken up, with at least five of their top players on duty tonight thought to have already agreed moves to Bradford and Hull.
Castleford's only glimmer of hope is that the winners of next month's National League Grand Final fail to meet the criteria for promotion to Super League but it seemed a forlorn one as the gloom descended on a once-proud club.
At least Castleford gave themselves a fighting chance with a plucky performance in which they re-discovered their scoring touch.
They made the worst possible start by conceding a try after just two minutes but, in a fast and furious opening 40 minutes, they hit back to open up an 18-10 lead only to concede a try in the last minute of the half that tied the scores at the break.
The match promised to become a battle of the Australian half-backs, with veteran Brad Davis pulling the strings for Castleford and Ben Jeffries orchestrating the show for the Wildcats, until both were struck down by injury for the second half.
Jeffries struck first, setting up a prime attacking position with a 40-20 kick before hoisting a towering kick to the line for left winger Semi Tadulala to score the game's first try.
But the Tigers made a mockery of their perilous position to produce some carefree rugby and took the lead with two tries in three minutes.
Lanky winger Paul Mellor palmed back Francis Maloney's kick for Davis to feed full-back Damian Gibson and then worked an opening for centre Tom Saxton to go over.
Wayne Godwin failed with both conversion attempts and the misses began to look costly as the Wildcats regained the lead on 15 minutes when Jeffries' kick rebounded off Mellor into the grateful arms of Colum Halpenny.
March's successful conversion made it 10-8 but the home side struck back with two further tries in four minutes as the game swung from end to end.
The shrewd Davis kicked into a wide open space on the visitors' right and when Halpenny over-ran the ball, Mellor was on hand to pounce for a fortuitous try.
And Davis was once more the provider when he got heavyweight forward Michael Smith charging onto his inside pass and this time Francis Maloney kicked Castleford's first conversion to make it 18-10.
Wakefield pulled two points back with a March penalty for a Godwin "flop" but they suffered a blow eight minutes before the break when Jeffries limped off.
However, Castleford also lost their inspirational playmaker when Davis, who defied a torn hamstring in a bid to help the club in their hour of need, failed to appear for the second half.
The game turned decisively in the four minutes either side of half-time when Wakefield's New Zealand second rower David Solomona took centre stage. He powered his way over for close-range tries either side of the hooter and then broke away for substitute Paul Handforth to touch down.
Handforth, taking over the goalkicking duties, made it 28-18 and, although Mellor went over for his second try on 57 minutes, the game was clearly slipping beyond the home side.
Halpenny superbly picked up skipper Gareth Ellis' pass by his boot laces to score his second try to seal Castleford's fate, although they never gave up the fight.
The Tigers pounded away at the Wakefield line and Godwin eventually darted through for a late consolation try which summed up his side's efforts, which were too little, too late.