Super League: Catalan Dragons 39-30 Castleford

Catalan Dragons survived a second-half fightback from Castleford Tigers to win 39-30 at Stade Gilbert Brutus.

The home side were 30-6 ahead at half-time after scoring five tries, all of which were converted by Thomas Bosc, with Josh Thompson replying for Cas.

Tigers fought back after the break with a brace from Justin Carney and scores from Daryl Clark and Thompson either side of Eloi Pelissier touching down.

However Bosc added a late drop-goal and a goal to secure the points.

The result spoiled Daryl Powell's first match in charge of Castleford following the departure of Ian Millward.

Things began badly for Tigers as Catalan scored in their first passage of possession when Vincent Duport sent in Daryl Millard.

Castleford levelled five minutes later when Thompson went over, but the home side then seized control of the match with four more tries before the break.

First Bosc fed Duport for the centre to go over and then Louis Anderson touched down after good work by Zeb Taia and Steve Menzies.

Leon Pryce and Morgan Escare combined to put Menzies in before Escare raced 90 metres, outpacing the Castleford defence to give Catalan a 30-6 lead at half-time.

Whatever Powell said during the interval reaped an immediate dividend as his side scored two quickfire tries.

Rangi Chase's kick into the in-goal area was allowed to bounce and Adam Milner knocked it into the field of play for Thompson to score and following the restart, Justin Carney was sent clear down the left wing and he raced in from 80 metres out.

Dragons responded with a close-range try from Pelissier, and after Bosc added the extras, the home side held a 36-18 lead, but Castleford refused to give up.

Jordan Tansey and Grant Millington broke clear to send in Daryl Clark and,, from the restart, Chase fed Carney for his second try, with Ellis converting both to reduce the deficit to six points.

Tigers came close to levelling the game, but the video referee ruled Clark was offside from Kirk Dixon's kick-through.

From the resulting penalty, the Dragons raced downfield and Bosc settled home nerves with a drop goal before capping a flawless kicking display by extending their lead with a penalty in front of the posts to seal victory.

VIEWS FROM THE DRESSING ROOM

Catalan Dragons coach Laurent Frayssinous:

"I'm pretty disappointed really. I think we were pretty clinical with our first-half performance and the scoreboard reflected what we wanted to do with the ball.

"But in the second half we were too soft and took some short cuts defensively. All the players, one by one, made mistakes in defence and there was a lack of energy.

"It's the second home game in a row that we have conceded a try in our in goal area when we should have dealt with it.

"We spoke about Castleford being very good with the ball all week, so we had to be good in defence and we were pretty good in the first half but not in the second."

Castleford Tigers head coach Daryl Powell:

"I'm proud of our second-half performance but I was bitterly disappointed at our first half.

"We never really got a grip of the game. I thought opportunities-wise it was pretty even in the first half, but we just couldn't take any.

"I asked the guys for a response after half-time and obviously we got that. A couple of centimetres in Daryl Clark being offside and we could easily have won the game but we need to be able to defend better.

"Thirty nine points conceded is way, way too many and ultimately we've still lost the game. It's something we know we've got to work on and we'll continue down that path."

SATURDAY'S LINE-UPS

Catalan Dragons: Escare, Blanch, Menzies, Duport, Millard, Pryce, Bosc, Simon, Henderson, Casty, Taia, Anderson, Mounis.

Replacements: Maria, Pelissier, Larroyer, Fakir.

Castleford Tigers: Tansey, Carney, Shenton, Thompson, Dixon, Chase, Ellis, Mason, Clark, Huby, Gilmour, Holmes, Massey.

Replacements: Walker, Millington, Milner, Boyle.

Referee: Phil Bentham (Warrington).

Attendance: 7,083.