Castleford Tigers 0 Wigan Warriors 22: Adrian Lam's side end losing run

Jackson Hastings scored the first of their four tries - ending the Warriors' two-game tryless drought - while the win snapped a three-game losing run.

The Tigers would have leapt ahead of Wigan with victory but instead, they remain behind them for the final three rounds - while Leeds and Hull FC, also vying for play-offs spots, lost earlier in the day.

Yet perhaps more importantly, this win blew away the gloom that had gathered over the Warriors and restored their battered confidence.

It wasn't a polished performance, but the defence was gritty and second-half tries from Oliver Gildart, Liam Marshall and Brad Singleton ensured the scoreboard reflected their dominance.

And they did it at a venue they have struggled at in recent years - against a team who had been in good form.

Castleford had beaten Leeds, St Helens, Wakefield and Hull FC in their last four matches.

They had lost reigning Man of Steel Paul McShane while for the visitors, Jai Field's withdrawal the day earlier saw Zak Hardaker return to full-back, with Sam Halsall coming into the three-quarters and teenager Brad O'Neill replacing Amir Bourouh as bench hooker.

There was evidence early on of both nervousness - and the fact both were playing their third game in 10 days.

When they earned themselves an attacking chance they seized it as Halsall showed composure to keep the ball in play and - from that position - Hastings took on a splintered line and muscled his way over, snapping their run of five successive halves without a try.

Harry Smith converted to make it 6-0, and that's how it remained until the break. Despite no further score until half-time, there were flashes to admire, particularly a bone-jarring Jake Bibby tackle, safe catches from Halsall and an all-round tigerish defensive effort.

And just before the break, Wigan's hopes were swelled when Tigers forward Jesse Sene-Lefao was sinbinned for a high shot on Joe Bullock.

But that numerical advantage lasted only one minute of play, Liam Byrne also seeing yellow for a dangerous tackle around the knees.

Derrell Olpherts beat Gildart to ground a probing Smith short-kick and at the other end, Cas had back-to-back penalties on the visitors' line but their clunky attack was easily repelled by Wigan.

They had the chance to give themselves more breathing space in the 53rd minute, but Smith missed a straight-forward - albeit high-pressure - penalty after Halsall had been taken out off the ball.

Wigan lost makeshift hooker Joe Shorrocks, ever-present this year, to injury but they managed to extend their advantage on the hour mark.

Marshall - who had earlier shown athleticism and awareness to intercept a penalty - scooped up another wayward pass to blaze away.

Smith converted to make it 12-0, and though he later missed another penalty to extend their advantage, his sweet pass to Gildart found the centre in enough space to wriggle his way over.

Hastings took over from Smith as goal-kicker and though he was off-target, at 16-0 the visitors were able to breathe easy, long before Singleton collected Ollie Partington's pass to stroll over. Hastings converted to make it 22-0.

Castleford: Evalds; Olpherts, Mata'utia, Shenton, Turner; Richardson, O'Brien; Watts, Milner, Millington, Holmes, Lefao, Massey. Subs: Griffin, Foster, Eden, Matagi

Wigan: Hardaker; Halsall, Bibby, Gildart, Marshall; Smith, Hastings; Partington, Shorrocks, Singleton, Farrell, Bateman, Smithies. Subs: Bullock, Byrne, O'Neill, Pearce-Paul.

Referee: James Child

Half-time: 0-6