Weston ensures Salford stay bottom

Craig Weston landed a drop-goal three minutes from time at the Halton Stadium yesterday to maintain the Widnes's top-six hopes and leave Salford rooted to the bottom of the Super League.

Salford had a 12-0 half-time lead and could have scored more, but Widnes staged a dramatic second-half recovery, going ahead for the first time on the hour when Steve McCurrie crashed over.

Salford were back on level terms in the 75th minute with a penalty from Steve Blakeley, but Weston made it 15-14 to steal the points for Widnes.

The Salford coach Karl Harrison said: "We didn't have much luck but it's still up to us and if we win our last three games we should be safe."

He could be comforted by the fact that fellow strugglers Wakefield's relegation worries deepened with a 44-6 hammering by Castleford at The Jungle. The in-form Tigers, beaten once in their last eight matches, produced a superb second-half display after being 10-2 up at half-time. Winger Waine Pryce who scored four tries in a 15-minute spell to add to efforts from Dale Fritz, Jon Wells, Danny Orr and Mark Lennon.

On Saturday, Wigan missed the chance to move into second place after crashing to their first defeat for three months, 26-18 to Hull, at The Boulevard. Stuart Raper, the Wigan coach, responded by cancelling his players' scheduled two days off and called them in for extra training yesterday morning ahead of Sunday's derby with the leaders St Helens.