Castleford Tigers 31, Warrington Wolves 34

Mar 25 2008 by Wayne Gardiner, Liverpool Daily Post

WARRINGTON coach Paul Cullen was a relieved man after his side’s last-gasp 34-31 win at Castleford.

The Wolves, who lost Lee Briers (calf) and Stuart Reardon (hamstring) through injury, snatched victory with a last-minute try from second row Louis Anderson to stay two points behind leaders Leeds.

Cullen said: “We have had that sort of thing done to us so many times in the past but there is a fair bit of football in our players and I was delighted with the way they held their nerve and came back. In the first 20 minutes we were in absolute control but Castleford then made life difficult for us and their half-backs were very creative.

“We dealt with adversity very well today. We lost three players injured in the space of 60 seconds which was unbelievable. When that is a full-back, scrum-half and stand-off it needs a fair bit of reorganising to keep your shape and structure.

“All 34 players should be congratulated. It is tough backing up two games in three days.”

Castleford coach Terry Matterson was unhappy with referee Steve Ganson’s performance as his side slipped to their seventh defeat in eight games and said: “We were pipped at the post but the effort from our guys was great.

“When you are at the bottom of the table it is a battle. We are down to the bare bones with our squad and everything is against us. I heard Stuart Cummings on the radio say he is happy with referees. If he is happy he is watching different stuff.

“I don’t mind getting beaten in a fair way but that wasn’t fair today.

“I was disappointed for the players because they are a hard-working group who deserved a result today.”