GALE FORCE Luke leads the way as Tigers find their claws
DARYL POWELL praised half-backs Luke Gale and Jamie Ellis and warned that his Tigers are starting to stir after their stuttering start.
Last season’s League Leaders crashed on the opening night at St Helens and had to grind out a tough win at home to Widnes.
But with Ellis impressive and Gale finding something like his Man of Steel form, they overcame a Hull side who left their coach Lee Radford a frustrated man.
Skipper Michael Shenton also touched down twice in an accomplished all-round display.
Powell (right) said: “Jamie Ellis was really good. He got his hands on the ball a lot, threatened with his running game and created tries with his passing and kicking.
“He can be really pleased that he’s starting to fit in. I still think Luke is trying to find his best game.
“But in particular in the second half he kicked a 40/20 and he was creative as well with smart passes that created opportunities for us.
“We’ve not been fantastic so far but we’re getting better and that’s the key.
“We’re a slow burner but we can be a lot more confident after today.”
The only negative for the Castleford boss was hamstring injuries to Greg Eden and Joe Wardle that look certain to rule them out of Thursday’s trip to Hull KR.
Powell’s team recovered from an early eight-point deficit after former Tiger Marc Sneyd brushed off some weak defence to touch down and kicked two goals.
The home side were ahead by the break with Greg Minikin providing a smart finish out wide and Jake Webster scything through just before the hooter.
Two tries in the opening stages of the second half then took the game away from Hull.
Ellis kicked for Mike McMeeken to touch down and Gale booted a 40/20 to create the position for Shenton’s first.
Bureta Faraimo showed terrific handling skills to respond for the visitors, but Shenton’s second from a smart Gale pass ensured Mickey Paea’s effort came too late for a Hull side that arrived back from Australia less than a week go. Coach Lee Radford said: “We had so many people not at the races. “Any chance we had of getting back into the game we managed to make schoolboy errors. “We’ve gone from players being a seven or eight in round one, to four or five in round two, back up against St George Illawarra and back down today. Some blokes have got to find something in the middle of that.”