RUGBY LEAGUE CAS FEND OFF GIANTS FIGHT
Daryl blasts his half-timers
DARYL POWELL breathed a huge sigh of relief after Castleford survived a second-half fright to move up to fifth.
Powell said: “We had full control at half-time but we came out with a completely different mentality.
“The players are talking about giving fans half their money back because we only gave half the value.
“It’s disappointing. We’re ticking along with wins but we are not playing great.”
The Tigers raced into a 22-0 lead inside the opening half hour and a rout looked on the cards.
Paul McShane, Greg Minikin and Alex Foster touched down before Jake Webster added another while Jordan Turner was in the sin bin for the Giants.
Ukuma Ta’ai stopped the rot while the Giants were still down to 12 men but Cas hit back to lead 28-6 at the break.
Greg Eden’s try should have made them comfortable but bizarrely the Tigers struggle to play in second halves of games.
They had scored just one try in their previous five games after the break – and nerves seemed to strike them again.
The Giants, from looking down and out, suddenly tasted blood and started to rattle Powell’s men.
A try from Daniel Smith and two from 17-year-old Innes Senior – the second while Tigers’ Adam Milner was in the bin – cut the lead to eight points.
Foster calmed the jitters with his second try after 73 minutes but Huddersfield hit back again with a Shannon Wakeman touchdown.
Cas captain Michael Shenton had the final say with a last-gasp try to leave Giants caretaker boss Chris Thorman gutted.
He said: “I went ballistic at halftime and it was a crescendo of profanity, but it’s disappointing that I have to lose my rag for them to respond.”
Thorman has lost two and drawn one since taking over from sacked Rick Stone but is expecting to carry on indefinitely.
He added: “In terms of having it full time, I’ve heard nothing, but it’s been nothing but positive from the club in terms of my development.”