Castleford Tigers 23 Wakefield Trinity 18: Rival coaches Daryl Powell and Willie Poching react to thrilling West Yorkshire Super League derby

Rival coaches Daryl Powell and Willie Poching had similar - if about-face - views of how their side performed in the big West Yorkshire derby.
Tigers' Greg Eden makes a catch under pressure from Lee Kershaw of Trinity. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.Tigers' Greg Eden makes a catch under pressure from Lee Kershaw of Trinity. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.
Tigers' Greg Eden makes a catch under pressure from Lee Kershaw of Trinity. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.

Powell felt Castleford Tigers were outstanding in the first half of their 23-18 win, but described his side’s display after the break as “terrible”.

Wakefield Trinity’s caretaker-boss Poching was scathing about their effort in the opening 40 minutes, but highly encouraged by the way they fought back from 23-6 behind.

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“It was a game of two halves,” Powell reflected. “I thought we were really good in the first half, really controlled.

Trinity's Matth Ashurst, right, tangles with Nathan Massey of Castleford. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.Trinity's Matth Ashurst, right, tangles with Nathan Massey of Castleford. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.
Trinity's Matth Ashurst, right, tangles with Nathan Massey of Castleford. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.

“Defensively we were outstanding, we got after Wakefield, controlled the territory and came up with some real smart plays.

“Then, the second half was terrible - just the complete opposite.

“Wakefield stepped up, we thought we had the game won and I just thought it was a really poor second half performance.

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“We never really got hold of it and could have easily lost it at the end.”

Tigers remain in contention for a top-six finish after their 16th successive win over Trinity and Powell stressed: “That’s a pretty proud record for a local derby and it was good to get a win at home because we’ve been pretty poor here.”

Tigers led 12-0 after as many minutes and were 19-6 ahead at half-time, before adding another six points to their advantage early in the second period.

Poching, in his second game since taking over from Chris Chester, also reckoned it was “a bit of a mix” from his team.

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He said: “I was disappointed with our first half effort and we had some words at half-time to try and switch our mindset.

“I think we weren’t quite at the races and when we were 19-6 down I thought we were in a position we deserved to be in because of our lack of aggression and lack of punch, especially defensively.”

But he added: “When we changed our mindset in the second half I thought we were a real different team and with that, I am pretty happy.

“We started to restrict some of their metres and played a bit more football at their end of the field, which kept giving us some opportunities that we didn’t create in the first half.”