Castleford Tigers 28 Saints 26 IAN Millward predicted that Friday's trip to the Jungle would be the most difficult of Saints' trio of back-to-back away games games - but even he must have been surprised at the way the finely tuned Super League bandwagon was derailed by a fired up Castleford outfit. Saints did not crank up their game at the crucial moment and were left reeling by the pace of the Tigers' assault and the tenacity of their defence.

Having three cups on the trophy cabinet can be highly motivating for Saints' opponents - Cas were very pumped up and got stuck into the treble winners with a vengeance.

But they were aided by a kamikaze Saints side, who threw away too much ball early on their tackle count and whose defence went AWOL midway through the first half.

The Tigers found a weak link at the base of the Saints' scrum and ruthlessly exploited it at pace with two punishing tries - Salford found a similar chink in the armour the previous week and it something Ian Millward will no doubt address before Messrs Johns, Lam and Farrell get to work next Friday.

Travelling fans have revelled in the sight of swashbuckling Saints tossing the ball about over the last four weeks - and they sat back in anticipation of another points spree after tries from Sean Hoppe and Peter Shiels gave them an early 10-0 lead.

The second score, a magnificent effort started and finished by the lanky Aussie forward, came after the ball had spun and floated through 11 pairs of hands.

But Cas re-wrote the script of recent weeks, tightening their defensive resolve before hitting Saints with a 22 point blitzkrieg in 20 minutes.

Particularly prominent in this crucial spell were Tigers half back pair Mitch Healey and Mark Lennon - fortunately for Saints both went off injured or they may have inflicted even more damage.

As coach Ian Millward said afterwards, Saints did not raise the intensity their game and paid the ultimate price.

"We got off to a good start - scored two great tries but our defence just was not good enough.

"I can give you 100 reasons why we did not play well, but at the end of the day Castleford won and they were the better team," said the Saints boss.

After clawing their way back into the game, Saints launched another of their characteristic late shows when first Hoppe crossed and then Kevin Iro.

But with the deficit now just 2 points and with 10 minutes left on the clock, Saints were a little too frantic for their coach's liking.

"When it got to 28-26 we did not complete the next four sets of six - if we had completed them I thought we should have won comfortably.

"Our execution was poor - you can win late games, but it is the way you go about it. We did not go about it the right way today," Millward said.

Saints nearly pinched it in the last play of the match when Paul Sculthorpe hit the line at speed, but as he bashed it down the ball spilled loose.

Keiron Cunningham was again outstanding for Saints, despite playing his third game in five days.

His breaks constantly put the homesters on the back foot with the 50 metre charge in the seventh minute paving the way for Saints opening try.

He kept going - stretching every muscle and sinew in his body to just about force the ball over for the opening try of the second half.

With the weight of the union business off his shoulders just what will he be capable of now. Clockwatch 7 minutes: A great 50 metre break from Keiron Cunningham sets up the position for Tommy Martyn to supply Sean Hoppe with the scoring pass. Paul Sculthorpe converts 0-6.

11: Peter Shiels try after a ten pass sequence started by the big Aussie's interception. Conversion missed 0-10.

18: Waine Pryce try. 4-10.

25: Great break by Mark Lennon sets up Dale Fritz for a try. Jon Roper goals. 10-10.

31: Mitch Healey races over for try from the scrum, Roper goals. 16-10.

34: Adrian Vowles holds off Shiels challenge to go over for another try from the scrum. Roper adds on the goal. 22-10.

58: Cunningham knocks off a cluster of Tigers' tacklers to reach over for a try, Sculthorpe's conversion makes it 22 -16

60: Lee Harland restores Cas' 12 point cushion with a converted try. 28 -16.

67: Hoppe try, Sculthorpe goal 28-22.

70: Martyn's long pass sends Kevin Iro in for a try out wide. Sculthorpe misses the goal. 28-26 How they lined up Castleford Tigers: Flowers; Wells, Roper, Eagar, Pryce; Healey, Lennon; Sampson, Shaw, Smith, Harland, Fritz, Vowles. Substitutes: Rogers, Gay, Sykes, Lynch

Saints: Stewart; Hall, Iro, Stankevitch, Hoppe; Martyn, Wellens; Nickle, Cunningham, Fairleigh, Shiels, Joynt, Sculthorpe. Substitutes: McDonald, Jonkers, Matautia, Bennett.

Attendance: 7, 054

Referee: Karl Kirkpatrick