Castleford coach Powell put out by performance but pleased to bag the two points
BOSS DARYL Powell was happier with the result than his side’s performance after Castleford Tigers got back to winning ways against Salford Red Devils.
Tigers bounced back from their first defeat of the season at Warrington Wolves with a 24-20 home success, but Powell admitted: “It was tight.”
He said: “I think we deserved to win the game, but we tried our best to relinquish control for periods there. It was a disappointing effort in some ways, but ultimately we won the game which is important.”
Tigers were never behind, but Salford rallied from 18-4 down in the second half to trail by only two points at one stage.
“There were some periods when we were thinking we could have been better there – such as the period just before half-time,” Powell reflected.
“I thought we started great, then we got a bit loose at the ruck.
“When we had Paul McShane sin-binned that was a tough period and I don’t think we handled it that well.
“We gave an intercept away and we were pretty courageous on our own line to keep them out, but we could have been a bit smarter.”
Powell added: “We built up a lead in the second half and that’s something we should have gone on with.
“I was disappointed we didn’t do that.
“We started giving penalties away and we conceded some soft tries.
“At 18-4 we should have had the game by the scruff of the neck and we did the opposite.
“Momentum in rugby league is massive, when they got momentum we were rocking and we did well to close it out, I thought.”
Tigers have a short turnaround to Friday’s visit of Betfred Super League leaders St Helens.
Powell said: “They are the best team in the comp and we are going to need to step up in terms of quality.
“Bbut we are capable of doing it and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”