Monday 8 September 2014 06:55, UK
Castleford coach Daryl Powell felt his side had blown their nailbiting 26-22 win over Wakefield, a result which keeps alive their chances of a first top-table finish.
The Tigers were excellent in establishing a 22-0 lead after 33 minutes thanks to two tries from James Clare and further scores from Luke Dorn and Kirk Dixon.
But the Wildcats responded before half-time with tries from Lee Gilmour, playing on loan from Castleford, and Chris Riley.
Castleford extended their lead to 26-10 with Jake Webster's try on 67 minutes but the visitors set up a tense finish when prop Scott Anderson scored the first try of his career and Richard Owen, another man playing on loan from the Tigers, added another seven minutes from time.
Paul Sykes kicked his third goal to cut the gap to just four points and leave the Tigers hanging on at the end.
"We're obviously delighted we've got the two points - that was the most important thing - but, from a performance point of view, we were miles off in the second half," Powell said.
"I thought for half-an-hour we looked like a team in play-off mode, then for 50 minutes we were absolutely terrible.
"I couldn't quite work out some of the decisions we were making.
"Wakefield got on the front foot towards the end of the first half and we never grabbed it back.
"The game got a bit frantic and we just lost our heads. We couldn't calm down and build the game for ourselves.
"We did well to win the game. I thought we'd get beaten actually. They were playing hot. But you have to commend the character of our team."
The Tigers' hard-fought win means they will secure the League Leaders' Shield if current leaders St Helens lose at Huddersfield on Friday and they beat Catalan Dragons in Perpignan 24 hours later.
"Obviously going away to Catalan is a tough game," Powell added. "Pretty much everybody has struggled over there, so it's going to take a big effort from us to win that game.
"But to have that opportunity is a special thing for us. Nobody would have thought we would go down to the last game of the season with a chance of winning the League Leaders' Shield."
Wakefield coach James Webster was fully aware that side's woeful start to the game was to blame for their defeat.
"I was disappointed with the way we started the game," Webster said. "They competed their first 17 sets and taught us a lesson on how to build pressure.
"We were outplayed in the first 25 to 30 minutes and gave ourselves way too much to do.
"We needed long periods with the ball and we looked better in the second half. Energy and enthusiasm can only take you so far, execution and finishing is what eals the victory."
