SAINTS gave their travelling fans an anxious opening hour at Castleford before finally getting a grip of the game in the final quarter to take a two vital points with a 30-20 win which keeps them in touch with the leading pack.

Wheldon Road’s tight pitch and partisan home crowd has traditionally been a sticky wicket for the Saints and so it was again.

Despite missing a raft of senior players the Tigers were always going to post a response after last week’s 58-16 home mullering by Hull KR, but at times it looked as though Saints were doing their best to aid their host’s convalescence.

Saints found to their cost that turning the ball over at the Jungle’s shortish pitch - giving daft penalties away, pushing passes or ending sets poorly - is invariably followed by the need to desperately defend the line.

And with the enthusiastic Tigers pack laying the platform for scrum half Luke Gale to pull the strings – Saints looked set to be heading for a surprise defeat.

Gale is a smart half back, but he was, bar a couple of exceptions, allowed to play in a dinner jacket, especially when it came to picking his spot when putting boot to ball with devastating effect.

Trailing 20-12 approaching the hour mark it took prop Kyle Amor powered into a gap to give Saints the toe-hold they needed.

The ever-alert Joe Greenwood then poached his second of the match to put Saints ahead on 63 minutes – the bit was between the teeth and there was no way they were going to let this slip.

It still took a Jonny Lomax try five minutes from time to allow the travelling fans to breathe a sigh of relief after a hard-fought encounter.

It was looking like Saints were going to succumb to what would have been a shock defeat against a side that was on paper pretty patched-up.

And when Joel Monaghan leapt on to Gale's steepling kick wide for the opening try the blue print was set.

Despite still looking to be feeling the effects of an earlier fend, James Roby picked up Ryan Hampshire's kick 10 metres out and dashed 50 metres upfield. And although the hooker was temporarily brought off that determined dash had created the position for Luke Walsh to aim his kick beneath the uprights for Greenwood to race on to.

The tit-for-tat scoring continued with Gale again picking his spot on the last for speedy full back Denny Solomona to attack the ball for his 14th try of the season.

Saints went in trailing 10-6 at the break scored a wonderfully executed try on the left with winger Shannon McDonnell taking Mark Percival's pass to cross at the tight corner four minutes after the restart.

Walsh slotted the touchline goal to put Saints in front for the first time but that was not the signal for Cas to give up.

Cas rocked the visitors with two tries in seven minutes – the first from a dropped ball from Jon Wilkin. Although Saints scrambled and then defended the line with conviction, they were stretched on the last when Gale asked questions before sending second rower Mike McMeeken through the hole for a try. And when young winger Jy Hitchcox got past on the outside to race on to Ben Crooks' grubber it looked as the Tigers were going in for the kill.

Saints desperately needed to draw on something, but it really did not look as though it was happening when Lomax pushed a pass into touch from a penalty.

But they stuck at it, pounding and stretching the Cas defence until it finally parted for Amor to go over with relative ease.

Saints suddenly saw the game was here for the taking and after Roby was held up on the line Walsh launched another kick wide for Greenwood to pounce on.

There was no white flag from Cas and it took a determined effort to snuff out Monaghan on a last tackle power play.

They then turned over on the half way and compounded it with a penalty to give Cas another crack at the line, but Paul McShane was stopped just inches short and then Dominique Peyroux plucked a dangerous attacking kick from the air to defuse the threat.

With all that work done with on their own line, they were mightily relieved when they got some time back on the ball at the other end.

And with Cas tiring, Lomax interjected to scamper through five minutes from time to wrap it up.

And it was a try straight off the training ground with Roby, Walsh and Fages inter-passing for the full back to support up the middle for the touchdown.

A good win, well dug out despite the daft errors, and one which will hopefully give Saints a wake-up call ahead of next week’s no second-chance cup encounter with Hull FC.

Castleford: Solomona; Monaghan, Crooks, Cook, Hitchcox; Hampshire, Gale; Lynch, Milner, Jewitt, Millington, McMeeken, Massey. Subs: McShane, Maher, Springer, Fitzsimmons.

Saints: McDonnell; Lomax, Peyroux, Percival, Owens; Fages, Walsh; Walmsley, Roby, Amor, Vea, Greenwood, Wilkin. Subs: McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Tasi, Richards, Knowles.