WIDNES' Wembley dream was ruthlessly ripped up after they failed to turn up at today's semi final against Castleford.

They were never in the game and to make matters worse a post match pitch invasion from some of their fans spoiled the occasion.

They paid a heavy price for silly errors that allowed the Yorkshiremen to get a grip of the game.

Vikings got off to a bad start with a break from Daryl Clark eventually yielding a try from Liam Finn after five minutes.

And shortly afterwards, following a dropped Jack Owens ball, Cas were in again when Clark worked a smart one-two out on the left.

Cas were well on top, and coped well with the loss of prop Craig Huby with a dislocated elbow in the opening quarter.

A poor Kevin Brown pass hit the deck enabling Cas to mount another attack, with Finn and Luke Dorn combining to send Kirk Dixon in at the corner.

Vikings had a late flurry, but spurned two chances to kick penalties in the closing minutes of the first half.

Vikings needed to score first - and didn't.

That honour instead went to Cas' Jamie Ellis went in from dummy half after a series of pops at the line had left too many players on the deck.

Cas were kicking smartly, drilling the ball downfield and keeping Vikings at bay.

A 40/20 from Cas gave them great field position for another raid, And from there Marc Sneyd converted a penalty to put the game out of reach at 22-0.

The Vikings fans were in good voice and had something to cheer when Stefan Marsh forced himself over but was held up.

Cas rattled in another through Jake Webster, with Sneyd converted.

Vikings did have the last word when after a Brown break, they had a good position for Owens to cross in the corner from a smart Chris Dean pass.

He slotted the goal, but it was too little too late to be anything other than a consolation.

To make matters worse the pitch invasion at the end will cast a huge shadow over what should have been a great occasion.