Tigers bite sorry Warriors

Pressure is mounting on Wigan coach Brian Noble after the Warriors slumped to a third successive defeat with a 28-22 loss to Castleford at the JJB Stadium.

Both sides scored five tries but the Warriors' Amos Roberts and Mark Riddell could only muster one conversion between them from five attempts which ultimately proved the difference.

This latest defeat means the Warriors have endured their worst start to a season for 24 years and their players left the pitch to a chorus of boos.

Noble also had to hear "you're getting sacked in the morning" ringing in his ears as the Castleford fans basked in their victory.

But the Warriors could have no complaints after coming up with another largely uninspiring performance.

The architect of their downfall was Castleford's experienced scrum-half Brent Sherwin who had a hand or foot in four of their five tries on his first appearance of the season after recovering from ankle surgery.

Tries disallowed

There were warning signs for Noble's men when the Tigers had two tries disallowed in the first 10 minutes.

Right winger Kirk Dixon was brought back for putting a foot in touch after only four minutes while left winger Richard Owen was ruled to have made a double movement after he eluded full-back Roberts to touch down.

Castleford had captain Ryan Hudson placed on report for an incident that happened in the immediate aftermath of Owen's disallowed try, but they maintained their early momentum to take a 4-0 lead, courtesy of two penalty goals from Dixon.

Without three first-choice backs, Wigan gave debuts to Karl Pryce and 19-year-old winger Shaun Ainscough, who was one of their best players in the first half.

He had a try disallowed for a forward pass and showed deceptive strength and determination to produce a rare break.

A solo try from scrum-half Thomas Leuluai, who jinked his way over on 25 minutes, actually nudged the home side ahead but Castleford struck back in decisive fashion through the wily Sherwin.

Loose forward Joe Westerman pounced on Sherwin's grubber kick for his side's first try on 34 minutes and just two minutes later the little Australian released dangerous centre Michael Shenton and second-rower Brett Ferres was in support to touch down.

Dixon maintained his accuracy to land a fourth goal and give his side a 10-point cushion as Wigan left the field at half-time to familiar boos from their impatient fans.

Second period

But the home side threatened a fightback within four minutes of the re-start after Dixon fumbled Tim Smith's high kick just short of his own line.

Leuluai and Smith worked the ball out wide from the resulting scrum and Roberts showed a touch of class to release Pryce, whose try was his first in Super League since he touched down in Bradford's 38-16 win over Wigan at the JJB Stadium back in September 2006.

Roberts could not add the goal, though, and Castleford hit back with two more tries in a four-minute spell to open up a 24-10 lead.

Sherwin was once more the architect, hoisting the high kick from which Evans superbly got Dixon in at the corner and then getting Ferres into his stride for him to hand off Smith and touch down for his second try of the match.

Dixon failed with both conversions and Wigan gave themselves renewed hope when centre Darrell Goulding profited from an overlap to score his side's third try on 57 minutes.

And the gap was down to just two points when the resurgent Warriors carved out two more tries in a three-minute spell.

First, second-rower Joel Tomkins caught the Castleford defence napping on the blindside of the ruck after Darrell Goulding had been held short of the line.

Then Ainscough capped a memorable debut with a 50-yard try, taking Leuluai's pass on halfway and going round full-back Ryan McGoldrick on the outside.

But Castleford made sure of a memorable win when McGoldrick sent the impressive Shenton over for his side's final try deep into stoppage time.