Castleford Tigers 52

Warrington Wolves 26

PAUL Cullen called it 'a nightmare of a day' and it was easy to see why.

He has often claimed to be tough enough to take whatever is thrown his way but even he must have been tested on Sunday.

Indeed, he cut a lonely figure as he trudged through the crowds to the team coach after a post-match Press conference in which he appeared more hurt and angry than at any point in recent memory.

Just about everything that could have gone wrong for Wolves did go wrong at Castleford.

If it wasn't a basic error by one of his players, it was a howler of a decision by referee Steve Ganson, who produced the sort of performance Wolves could have done without at this moment in time.

And, with Wolves already consigned to a heavy defeat and things looking like they could not get any worse, frustration and ill-discipline kicked in.

Goodness knows what the watching world thought as the match turned into the Rumble at the Jungle, doing the club's image no favours live on Sky television.

And it was typical of Wolves' day that Ben Westwood was floored by Gray Viane during their 69th-minute punch-up.

Both were lucky only to be sent to the sin bin but Paul Wood and Ryan McGoldrick were not so fortunate when they received red cards for another unseemly incident two minutes later.

And with Tigers' Paul Handforth also in the sin bin for delaying the play-the-ball, the dismissals left the match at 11 against 10 for a short period.

It was a shameful end to an already embarrassing day and Wood expressed regret afterwards.

"I was disappointed I got sent off," he said. "I tackled him (McGoldrick) and he just started mouthing off.

"I didn't really want to back down at that point with the scoreline as it was.

"We've got to be more disciplined but we've got to stick together as a team.

"After what happened with Ben Westwood I think a few of us got too fired up.

"We just need to keep our heads in those situations."

Wolves' frustration had grown since Ganson's crucial error in the first minute of the game.

Having been furious that Westwood had been denied a perfectly good try without the use of the video referee at Harlequins two weeks earlier, Cullen felt Sunday's game turned into 'a circus' when Ganson failed to go to the screen before awarding a try to Waine Pryce.

Even on first viewing it was obvious that Pryce had simply bounced the ball on the ground rather than grounding it properly.

That decision did not help but Wolves still never looked like winning.

Cas were the more spirited and confident side throughout and managed to put more points past Wolves than any side had managed since St Helens in 2003.

A try for 17-year-old Michael Cooper on his Super League debut was one of the few positives but it was a day to forget for all concerned.

Was it really only 11 weeks ago that Wolves won 64-6 at the Jungle?

Match facts

engage Super League XI

Round 19, July 2, 2006

Castleford Tigers 52

Warrington Wolves 26

Tigers: Michael Platt; Adam Fletcher, Michael Shenton, Gray Viane, Waine Pryce; Ryan McGoldrick, Danny Brough; Danny Sculthorpe, Andrew Henderson, Danny Nutley, Ben Roarty, Willie Manu, Peter Lupton. Subs used: Danny Ward, Craig Huby, Richard Fa'aoso, Paul Handforth.

Wolves: Stuart Reardon; Henry Fa'afili, Martin Gleeson, Toa Kohe-Love, Brent Grose; Simon Grix, Lee Briers; Chris Leikvoll, Michael Sullivan, Paul Wood, Ben Westwood, Mike Wainwright, Rob Parker. Subs used: Steve Pickersgill, Michael Cooper, Andy Bracek, Paul Noone.

Referee: Steve Ganson

Scoring: Grix drops Brough's kick-off and Pryce is awarded a try from Sculthorpe's grubber, 50secs, 4-0; Reardon fumbles Sullivan's pass and Manu steps past Westwood soon afterwards, 5mins, Brough converts, 10-0; Brough's awful high kick is allowed to bounce and the same man canters over after Reardon had failed to gather, 12mins, Brough goals, 16-0; Briers puts Parker through a gap, 16mins, 16-4; Wainwright supplies Grose, 25mins, 16-8; McGoldrick puts Fa'aoso over after Briers' 40/20 had been disallowed, 29mins, Brough adds the extras, 22-8; Reardon ploughs through Platt's tackle, 35mins, Briers converts, 22-14; Sculthorpe bounces off Wainwright and puts Lupton over, 40mins, Brough kicks goal, 28-14; Lupton touches down from McGoldrick's pass, 53mins, Brough goals, 34-14; Platt collects Roarty's offload to score, 61mins, Brough adds the extras, 40-14; Fletcher beats Grose to McGoldrick's bomb, 64mins, 44-14; Brough lands penalty after Wood had been sanctioned, 72mins, 46-14; Sullivan makes a break and then touches down Grose's lofted kick, 75mins, Briers converts, 46-20; Roarty puts Shenton through a gap, 80+mins, Brough lands goal, 52-20; Cooper scores his first senior try from Grose's pass, 80+mins, Briers goals, 52-26.

Sin bin: Tigers: Handforth 66mins (holding down), Viane 69mins (violent conduct). Wolves: Westwood 69mins (violent conduct).

Sent off: Tigers: McGoldrick 71mins (violent conduct). Wolves: Wood 71mins (violent conduct).

Pens: Tigers 6 Wolves 10

Scrums: Tigers 2 Wolves 5

Attendance: 5,411

Warrington Guardian top men: Sullivan 3pts, Kohe-Love 2pts, Cooper 1pt.

Interesting note: Wolves have now lost to every team below them in the table.