Farrell dispels curse of Cas to elevate Wigan
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Your support makes all the difference.Wigan shrugged off some doubts and demons to rejoin Bradford at the top of Super League with what could be one of their most important victories of the season.
Battered by St Helens on Good Friday, with their coach, Frank Endacott, still in New Zealand, and lacking a wealth of back-line talent, they faced a side that had beaten them three times last year, but produced some brilliant rugby in the second half to pass a searching examination.
Each side scored a converted try, through incisive play of different kinds, in the first seven minutes. Wigan's came when Willie Peters and Tony Smith linked crisply to send their captain, Andy Farrell, striding through a gap.
Castleford's reply stemmed from a kick through by Danny Orr, taken out late by Mick Cassidy, who was placed on report. Upfield, Brad Davis got his boot to the ball and reached it first to touch down.
Castleford were disrupted by losing both Davis and Jon Wells through heavy knocks, but they held their own until the half-hour, when Wigan fashioned a quite remarkable second try. Jason Robinson was determined to get the ball out of the tackle and, despite the attention of four defenders, eventually did so. Neil Cowie, showing great awareness, ran wide in support and his pass gave Brett Dallas only the full-back, Jason Flowers, to beat, something he did in the style that is fast making him a Wigan favourite. Farrell, who had missed with three of his four shots at goal, then put over a penalty before half-time to stretch the Warriors' lead.
After Dean Sampson had been placed on report for a high tackle that saw Dallas taken off, his try should have brought Castleford level with an unstoppable surge from close range after some dazzling handling down the right had set up the position. However, Orr then missed an easy conversion to leave Castleford two points in arrears.
Orr prevented one Wigan try with a wonderful tackle on Smith, but Cas could do nothing about the way that Terry Newton scored after 52 minutes, Farrell and one of their young reserves, Wes Davies, carving it out superbly. The one that put them in the clear five minutes later was just as good, off-loads from Terry O'Connor and Newton sending Peters over.
Castleford were still capable of flashes of brilliance, like the reverse pass from Andrew Purcell that sent Flowers away for their second try, but even that paled alongside the way Davies and David Hodgson combined for a length-of-the field clincher for Wigan. By that time, much of the patchy play that had gone before was forgotten and forgiven.
Wigan Warriors: Davies; Dallas, Radlinski, Gilmour, Robinson; Smith, Peters; Malam, Newton, Cowie, Betts, Cassidy, Farrell. Substitutes used: Hodgson, O'Connor, Haughton, Reber.
Castleford Tigers: Flowers; Wells, Eager, Campbell, Rogers; Orr, Davis; Sampson, Raper, Shaw, Harland, Fritz, Vowles. Substitutes used: Tonks, Purcell, Sykes, Arnold.
Referee: S Cummings (Widnes).
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