Wigan Warriors 6 Castleford Tigers 4: ‘The better team lost’ admits Tigers coach Daryl Powell

Sam Powell scored the only try of the game as Wigan edged out Castleford 6-4 in poor conditions to gain revenge from their defeat on the road earlier this month.

This was not the high-scoring thriller witnessed in West Yorkshire, but it was full of effort and intensity.

The Tigers led 4-0 at the break thanks to two Peter Mata’utia penalties in a less than thrilling half with very few chances.

“I thought we were the better team to be honest with you,” said Powell. “We couldn’t quite take our opportunities. We got Peter Mata’utia through and the ball gets dislodged. I thought that chance was good at the end if he could get the ball to James Clare.

“I thought we were really unlucky. I was really proud of the effort and we defended outstandingly well. I thought our attitude was great, we’ve got a bit of something to work with when you know the boys are working that hard.

Powell revealed he was happy with the performance of referee Chris Kendall in a week that has seen the RFL change some rules in order to clean up the ruck.

He added: “I thought the ruck was a lot better today. I thought he handled the ruck well. I reckon there were five or six there today which would have been played into the back of someone on the floor. I thought the game benefited because of it so I was pleased with it, the game was a lot cleaner.”

Castleford dominated the opening stages without creating too many chances as Wigan struggled to launch any attacks of their own.

After a drab 16 minutes, Wigan appeared to take the lead with Zak Hardaker claiming he had touched down following a George Williams kick. Video referee James Child had other ideas and ruled the full-back had failed to ground the ball.

Castleford took the lead in the 25th minute with Mata’utia slotting over a penalty after some interference from Williams.