CASTLEFORD TIGERS went down 60-4 at home to St Helens tonight at The Jungle in what can only be described as a complete second-half collapse.
Craig Lingard’s men only trailed 8-4 at the break, but were hit by nine second-half tries to flounder and flail against a red-hot Saints.
And it’s fair to say that Lingard was disappointed: “It was extremely poor, that’s as poor a second-half you could possibly get. We have built them up over the past couple of weeks with their effort and desire and commitment, but they almost accepted defeat in the second-half.
“That can’t happen at all, we showed an immense amount of naivety in that first-half when Saints were down to 12. We didn’t manage the game at all, we tried to go around them.
“We completed about 40 per cent in that first-half, when a team is down to 12 men you have to take the fuel out of them and we gave them it back with errors.
“The second-half was immensely poor, we touched the ball four times in the entire second-half.”
Lingard admitted that it is a massive step back and he apologised to Castleford fans.
“I thought we were poor all the way through the game even in the first-half when they were down to 12 men we panicked. We have got to manage the game better.
“It’s a massive step back from where we have been over the past few weeks. We have said all along it’s not going to be smooth but we can’t take a massive leap back like that.
“It’s unacceptable and I’ve got to apologise to the fans. I will take the flak and everything that comes with it but the players have got to put their hands up as well.”
Lingard had no qualms with the red card shown to Liam Horne in the second-half for a dangerous tackle.
“I’m not going to complain about the red card because the decision has been made. Whether I agree with it or not is a different matter. We have got to be smarter.
“We are looking at the decision and is it a red card or not? It shouldn’t have got to that point, we should have been firmly in control of the game instead of looking back at a decision.”
The Castleford boss also gave an injury update on Tex Hoy and Alex Mellor who both failed their HIAs whilst Jacob Miller injured his ankle.
“They will be back for the Hull game if they pass the protocols. It’s one of them where do you want to go back on your horse and hit it again but the week break gives us the chance to refresh
“Mellor has took a bit of a whack, I knew he wouldn’t be going back on. Tex seems fine but medically you can’t go against the doctors.
“Milky took a knock on his ankle which restricted his moment. He wanted to stay on but we moved him back to halfback but it was clear he couldn’t move.”
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