WILL Maher and Jacques O'Neill were involved in a thriller on Friday evening as Castleford Tigers came back from 20 points down to defeat Wigan Warriors 38-28 at home.

Haverthwaite prop Maher and Askam hooker O'Neill were both on the interchange bench, with the former making his first Super League appearance of the year after missing the opening weeks of the season through injury.

Visitors Wigan, who again included former Barrow Raiders forward Joe Bullock in the starting line-up, were 20-0 up after 22 minutes and still held the lead heading into the final 15 minutes following a fightback from the Tigers.

But converted tries from Tuoyo Egodo and Peter Mata'utia scored a win which kept Castleford within four points of the top two.

"I said we had this experience last week and nearly won the game," Castleford head coach Daryl Powell said in his post-match press conference.

"This week we were able to pull it off, but you don’t want to be in that position too many times."

Meanwhile, O'Neill could be set for more game-time too after the Tigers' first-choice hooker Paul McShane was suspended for three matches.

* MORGAN Knowles and his St Helens team-mates will be aiming to bounce back on Friday evening when they host Warrington Wolves in a top-of-the-table clash.

The Saints lost their unbeaten record away to Catalans Dragons on Saturday evening, losing 18-10 in Perpignan.

Barrow-born Wales international Knowles was involved in the match and afterwards head coach Justin Holbrook felt Catalans' determination got them through.

"We just weren't urgent enough, they scored all their tries off kicks and I think they just had a bit more want and determination than we had," said Holbrook.

"I'm proud of our side, we tried all the way. We defended really well but we just couldn't get over the line."

* BRAD Singleton was among the try-scorers for Leeds Rhinos, but the Barrow-born forward and his team-mates went down 45-26 away to Hull Kingston Rovers to leave them bottom of Super League.

Singleton could well find himself up against brother Perry when the Rhinos host Betfred League One side Workington Town in the Challenge Cup this Friday.