CASTLEFORD TIGERS went down 13-12 against Hull KR at The Jungle tonight in heartbreaking circumstances.
Jez Litten’s late drop goal won the game for the Robins, but it was two points lost for Castleford who were the better team.
After the game, Castleford boss Craig Lingard said: “It’s pretty similar to last week, I’m disappointed and it’s another game where we had opportunities.
“It’s about balancing that disappointment of not getting over the line in a how against how proud I am of the players for their efforts, desire and desperation.
“We talked about a team that is tough to beat, that plays for 80 minutes and wants to play together and we have seen that in the last two performances.
“But, ultimately, it’s zero points on the league ladder because we are a relatively new team we have not learnt how to win these games.
“We’ve not put ourselves in the best position to win these games before but we need to be more composed now.
“We need to turn these close losses into wins.”
Joe Westerman returned from injury and Lingard made the admission that he is having to do less minutes on the field given his age.
“I thought Westy was better, we have tried to manage his minutes. He is at that stage of his career where he can’t do 80 minutes – his head might be able to but his body can’t.
“He has always been a player that has been out there for long minutes and we have to manage them similar to Sylvester Namo where he has got to give us that impact.”
The Castleford boss also hailed Cain Robb and Liam Horne for their performances.
“Horney gives us that effort and intensity. He whacks people and gives everyone a lift around them and then Cain comes on and does what he does. His teammates love him because of that effort and desire.
“He is getting smarter in his game, he has been sensational the past few weeks and he has been our best player the past few weeks.
“We wanted people to take their chance and there’s no person that has changed my opinion more than Cain has.
“I could see the effort and intensity at the start of the season but he has been so smart in recent weeks so long may it continue.
“He’s still a young kid and sometimes he doesn’t develop that game smarts until he gets a run of games. He’s like a little Jack Russell that keeps nipping at your heels.
“He cause a few errors from Hull KR too because of what he does but he has got smarter with his contact. His next challenge is to improve his attacking smarts.”
Tex Hoy also rolled his ankle during the ankle, but Lingard revealed he should be fine for the next Super League fixture away at St Helens.
Meanwhile, halfback Jacob Miller had been given a green card during the fixture and Lingard touched upon that incident.
“The doctor came on to the field and Milky was fine to play on. We were told that the green card is now only given out if it occurs for a defensive player.
“We got told on the sidelines that the referee had made the wrong decision but it didn’t help for us because he was off for two minutes.
“Things like that shouldn’t happen. He shouldn’t have gone off because he was on the attacking team.”
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