Daryl Powell hails “statement” victory over reigning champions St Helens

James Messenger 15 Mar 2020 5:35 PM

Daryl Powell expressed his sheer delight after Castleford dominated St Helens at the Mend-a-Hose Jungle and inflicted a fourth defeat of the season on the reigning champions.

The Tigers, so often slow starters in 2020, raced into a 14-0 lead courtesy of Peter Mata’utia and Derrell Olpherts’ double, but conceded a Tommy Makinson try on the stroke of half-time.

However, they kicked on after the restart and confirmed victory thanks to Cheyse Blair and Jake Trueman’s efforts.

Jack Welsby and Luke Thompson bagged consolations for Kristian Woolf’s side in the final six minutes, but those tries could not dampen a fantastic win for the hosts.

The two points moves Daryl Powell’s men up to second in the Betfred Super League table, only behind table-toppers Wigan on points difference.

Speaking after the game, the Tigers head coach said: “Obviously, I’m really pleased. I just thought the platform we set ourselves in the first half was outstanding.

“Defensively, we did what we needed to do against such an outstanding team, and scored some outstanding tries.

I thought we got a little bit loose in the second half, but a team like St Helens are always going to have a say in the game. We managed to tidy ourselves and finish the game [strongly]. It’s a massive win for us.

“Today, I thought everyone played so well and had a real determination to defend against a really physical team. I thought it was a great performance for us.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen now with everything going on in the country, but the boys made a real statement.”