Castleford moved up to fifth on the Super League table with a win over Catalans

Luke Gale: Made a number of important kicks for Castleford

Castleford withstood a spirited fightback by Catalans to move up to fifth in the First Utility Super League with a 36-28 victory at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle.

Tries from last-minute replacement for Denny Solomona, and Grant Millington put Castleford in control at 20-0 up.

But Catalans came storming back and scored three quick tries either side of half-time, Fouad Yaha crossing before Benjamin Garcia added a double.

Michael Shenton scored to ease Castleford's nerves but they were soon pegged back as the Dragons made it 26-24 courtesy of Zeb Taia's converted effort.

Jordan Tansey scored the crucial next try before Scott Moore made sure of the points with time running out, ensuring Garcia's hat-trick, completed in the final seconds, was in a losing cause.

The result leaves Catalans, perennial strugglers away from home, with just one win to show for their efforts on their travels, which came at rock-bottom Wakefield.

The Dragons enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges and thought they had taken the lead when Taia finished spectacularly in the corner, only for play to be brought back for a foot in touch.

Castleford slowly worked their way into the contest and, after Shenton had seen a pass to a free Ash Robson deflected into touch, they hit the front when Gibson took Luke Gale's looping pass and strolled in to score.

Channing stretched the Tigers' lead further minutes later in almost identical fashion, taking a long pass from Moore for an easy finish in the corner.

Gale added the extras to both tries from out wide and accepted the offer of another two points when Catalans were penalised 40 metres from their own line.

The scrum-half played a key role in Castleford's next try as his clever inside pass was taken and powerfully finished by Millington for his first try of the season.

Catalans were desperate for something to show for their first-half efforts and they got it when Yaha took Willie Tonga's pass to touch down in the corner, with Scott Dureau converting from the touchline to make it 20-6.

And the Dragons were back to within eight points of the Tigers two minutes into the second half after Garcia charged over and Dureau made it two from two with the boot.

Castleford were struggling to contain a Catalans side growing in confidence, and they were left with just a two-point lead as Garcia completed a quickfire double after collecting Dureau's cut-out pass.

The Dragons looked destined to hit the front for the first time when Morgan Escare broke clear with Taia in support, only for the forward to drop his poor pass with the tryline beckoning.

Taia made amends when he pounced on a mistake by Gibson from Dureau's kick to touch down, but not before Shenton appeared to have swung the contest back in Castleford's favour by adding the finishing touches to Liam Finn's dab through.

The Dragons went in search of a match-winning score but it was the Tigers who got it as Tansey picked up and touched down Finn's neat kick in an instant to delight the Castleford fans behind the posts.

And they knew the points were in the bag when Moore crossed from dummy half, making Garcia's third try on the last play of the game little more than a consolation for Catalans.