WHAT a thrilling way to ensure Warrington Wolves head to Wembley on a winning note.

A 10-man handling move, started and finished by Jack Hughes, finally sealed two important Super 8s points with 55 seconds remaining on the clock.

Club owner Simon Moran and his guest, Warringtonian TV and radio personality Chris Evans, were among those leaping out of their seats as The Halliwell Jones Stdium erupted in jubilation.

Chris Sandow will be relieved to have handled twice in that winning move after twice narrowly missing with drop-goal attempts in the 18 minutes that the game was tied at 10-10.

Then Luke Gale, with the aid of an illegal Luke Dorn block on Ben Currie as he raced in for the charge down, showed how it is done with a one-pointer that looked to have sealed Cas a treble over top-four clubs, having defeated Hull FC and Wigan in the previous two weeks.

With two minutes remaining, never-say-die Wire gained possession from a short kick-off courtesy of Ryan Atkins.

And from there Warrington stretched the Castleford defence to breaking point after Rhys Evans was held up short.

Long passes from Hughes, Kurt Gidley and Sandow got the ball to leading try scorers Ben Currie and then Atkins on the left flank but there was no way through.

Matty Russell took up the raid, cut inside and found Stefan Ratchford whose long-range pass picked out Sandow again.

Gidley, as composed as ever, took up proceedings and his lobbed pass over Gale’s head handed Hughes a three-on-one with Super League’s leading try scorer Denny Solomona the man to beat.

When Hughes signed a new contract in July, head of coaching Tony Smith said he would like to see the second rower back himself more.

He did, ensuring there was no dropped pass or interception by selling Solomona a dummy to cross for the try that puts Wolves in second spot and guarantes a finish in the top four.

That means The Wire will be in the semi finals, just one hurdle from a return to Old Trafford for a championship title showdown.

The final three minutes on Saturday were the highlight of what had been a dour battle of attrition.

Referee Chris Kendall and his touch judges' failure to keep the teams onside, while focusing attention on policing the ruck – poorly at times – meant there was restricted space to play in and defences were in control.

Error counts were high as defenders’ hands around the ball led to much lost possession.

Wolves managed to muster the energy for their last hurrah and in doing so should feel confident about going down to the wire with Hull at Wembley if that is what it takes to win the Challenge Cup Final.

STATS SPOT

Wolves leap Wigan into second spot

Win guarantees Wolves a place in the Super League semi finals

First time Ben Currie has failed to touch down in four meetings with Cas

A third Wire win in four clashes with Cas this year

Ben Westwood is equal ninth in all-time Super League appearances

MATCH FACTS

Super 8s Round 3, Saturday, August 20, 2016

Warrington Wolves...14 Castleford Tigers...11

Wolves: Stefan Ratchford; Rhys Evans, Toby King, Ryan Atkins, Matty Russell; Kurt Gidley, Chris Sandow; Chris Hill, Daryl Clark, Ashton Sims, Jack Hughes, Ben Currie, Joe Westerman. Subs: Brad Dwyer, Ben Westwood, Ryan Bailey, George King.

Tigers: Luke Dorn; Ryan Hampshire, Ben Crooks, Greg Minikin, Denny Solomona; Rangi Chase, Luke Gale; Gadwin Springer, Adam Milner, Larne Patrick, Oliver Holmes, Andre Savelio, Junior Moors. Subs: Franki Mariano, Paul McShane, Matt Cook, Grant Millington.

Scoring: Westerman try, 9mins, Gidley conversion, 6-0; Solomona try, 27mins, Gale conversion, 6-6; Gale penalty goal, 31mins, 6-8; Gale penalty goal, 46mins, 6-10; Evans try, 62mins, 10-10; Gale drop goal, 78mins, 10-11; Hughes try, 79mins, 14-11.

Penalties: Wolves 6 Tigers 5

Referee: Chris Kendall

Attendance: 9,228

Top Man: Ryan Bailey