Castleford Tigers 16 Wigan Warriors 12

Liam Byrne and Joe Burgess scored the Warriors' only tries on a night in which Sean O'Loughlin marked his 500th career appearance.

But it wasn't enough as they tumbled to their fifth successive defeat on this ground. They met committed opposition but far too often they shot themselves in the foot.

Trailing by 10 points in the final quarter, they conceded penalties close to the Tigers' line on THREE occasions - whilst in possession - and Liam Farrell wasted a piercing break with a wayward pass.

When they finally did compose themselves, Burgess dashed over in the corner for a late try which Zak Hardaker converted to cut the margin to four points - but it was too little, much too late.

Sam Powell's absence after last week's head knock saw Thomas Leuluai move to hooker, and Harry Smith get the first start of his career, at halfback. Jake Shorrocks came onto the bench - one of 10 academy-products in the squad - and the changes to key positions went some way to explaining their blunt attack.

Yet though they were missing five through injury there was still no place for ex-Tigers prop Mitch Clark, Joe Bullock or Joe Greenwood.

And Cas were without seven frontline players through injury or suspension. They were good value for their 12-6 lead at the end of an opening half which was low on drama.

Wigan showed plenty of effort, particularly down the middle, but they finished their sets poorly. Jackson Hastings switched to the right, with Smith operating on the left, and the attack lacked a razor edge.

Centre Jake Bibby said in the week he'd been exchanging banter via texts with his former Salford team-mate Derrell Olpherts. The Cas winger opened the scoring, finishing a crisp shift to the right which Danny Richardson converted.

Ollie Partington took the sting out of another Tigers attack, forcing an error with a bone-jarring tackle, and at the other end Willie Isa coughed up possession.

On such a short pitch, penalties were particularly punishing and when Wigan were pinged for offside again it provided the hosts the position to extend their lead. From a scrum-base move, Cheyse Blair motored between Bibby and Smith to make it 10-0.

Wigan struck a foothold back in the contest in the 35th minute when Byrne crashed over from close range. Hardaker, booed throughout by the fans who once worshipped him, struck the conversion but - just before half-time - Richardson's penalty opened up a six point advantage.

Smith, whose short kicking game was particularly impressive, combined with Bevan French in a stylish attack early from the restart to force a repeat set and then a penalty, but their clunky attack couldn't trouble the Tigers line.

Still, it was promising, and with young props Ethan Havard and Liam Byrne putting in strong stints down the middle, they thought they had scored when Bibby touched down Smith's teasing kick - only for the referee to rule it had gone dead.

The irritation over their failure to score quickly turned to frustration as quickfire penalties gifted Richardson the chance to boot the hosts 10 points clear.

Leuluai and O'Loughlin returned for the final quarter but they continued to be their own worst enemies, conceding penalty in attack and then Farrell breaking - only to send the ball over the touchline.

It typified their night, and highlighted some of the areas which will need to be addressed before Super League newboys Toronto Wolfpack arrive at the DW Stadium on Thursday.

Castleford: Rankin; Olpherts, Blair, Shenton, Clare; Trueman, Richardson; Watts, McShane, Smith, Holmes, Millington, Massey. Subs: Moors, O'Neill, Peachey, Hall.

Wigan: French; Marshall, Hardaker, Bibby, Burgess; Smith, Hastings; Clubb, Leuluai, Partington, Isa, Farrell, O'Loughlin. Subs: Byrne, Havard, Shorrocks, Smithies.

Referee: Marcus Griffiths

Half-time: 12-6

Attendance: dd