Castleford Tigers coach Craig Lingard 'frustrated' after Super League loss to Leeds Rhinos

It was Tigers’ sixth loss in as many Betfred Super League games this season and came after they had dominated a scoreless opening 40 minutes. “I thought the way we played in the first half was really good in respect of our defensive work, how we controlled the ball and got repeat sets,” Lingard said.

“We just lacked a bit of quality and cutting edge and take your hat off to Leeds, they defended their goalline really well. I think we needed to score points in the first half, with the field position and possession we had.”

Lingard felt a try before half-time would have “potentially given us that lift to go again and get another score”. He said: “We needed to get over the line just to see where that would have taken us. We camped down there for quite a few sets and the positives from that were we controlled the ball really well in the first half, with the weather as it was.

“I think we made one error in the entire first half and our end of sets were as good as they’ve been all season. I think we had more repeat sets in the first half than all the other games combined.”

The Tigers boss was happy with his side’s “effort, attitude and enthusiasm”, but stressed: “That should be a given, every single player should bring that every single week. One thing we talked about this week in training was adding that bit of execution to our play. I think that was highlighted again. Had we scored in that first half it might have been a different story, but we didn’t so we have got to be better.”

Lingard was pleased with his starting props Liam Watts and George Lawler and felt hooker Paul McShane and loose-forward Joe Westerman “led us really well”. But he accepted: “The tries we conceded in the second half were frustrating because they came from kicks and plays back against the grain, when we clocked off. We said all week, if you clock off on one play they will catch you. We didn’t execute defensively as well in the second half as we did in the first.”

Tigers have a new-look squad this year and he coach added: “It is a journey and a learning curve with these players and some are learning faster than others. The challenge for us as a group is to get up for Salford at home next week as much as we got up for Leeds at home in the first half.

“That’s what we’ve got to do every single game. We are still searching for our first league victory and I think if we come with the attitude and application we came with this week and improve our execution at times, it might be a different story next week. But we’ve got to make sure we nail all aspects of the game.”