Castleford survive Salford comeback
17 Mar 2019
Castleford Tigers returned to winning ways as they came through a stern examination to edge Salford Red Devils 24-20 at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle.
The Tigers suffered their first defeat of the Betfred Super League season at Warrington last week and they were made to work hard for a win that took them level with the Wolves in second place.
Castleford were on course for a comfortable victory after Greg Eden added to first-half tries from Nathan Massey and Jordan Rankin to give them an 18-4 lead.
But Salford – fresh from a stunning 46-0 demolition of Catalans Dragons – produced a stirring fightback as Jansin Turgut and Joey Lussick scored in quick succession.
Jesse Sene-Lefao touched down to give the Tigers a cushion only for Jake Bibby to go over for his second try to set up a nervy finish that Castleford survived relatively comfortably.
Castleford coach Daryl Powell said: "Mentally we've got a quick turnaround this week against the best team in the comp on Friday so we'll be moving on pretty quickly.
"Our boys will have to get their heads right for what is a big challenge for us. We're going to need to step up in terms of quality for next week but we're capable of doing it. I'm looking forward to the challenge."
Salford head coach Ian Watson said: "We're really disappointed we've let an opportunity slip. We feel we've let it slip by our own little errors.
"But I think we're good enough to compete with these teams now. We just have to believe that ourselves and have the belief going forward. We need to show that next week against Wigan."
