Doubters silenced as Cas march on

Daryl Powell believes Friday’s 23-12 victory at Leeds was the perfect response to the recent criticism of his team.

The Tigers’ ability to win big matches was questioned after last week’s Challenge Cup defeat at Hull, but they answered their critics in style with a deserved success against the Rhinos.

Powell: “I thought we were awesome – defensively we were superb.

“It was one of those nights you might see at the end of the season, so I thought it was quite symbolic for us.

“We exorcised some demons from our game against Salford earlier in the year when it was wet and we didn’t really play.

“We played enough tonight without going over the top. Luke Gale’s control of the game was absolutely outstanding.

“It was an excellent performance from us in tough conditions. We would have got rid of a few doubts about us as a team tonight which I’m really pleased with.”