Castleford 24 Warrington 40, Steve Price reaction

Despite having nothing to play for in terms of league position, The Wire were initially dominant against a home side that needed to win to keep their season alive.

They ran up a 26-0 half-time lead as Matty Ashton and Castleford-bound Jake Mamo crossed twice each.

Ashton completed his hat-trick just after the break before a crazy 12-minute period that saw the hosts score four tries, Josh Charnley sin-binned and Mike Cooper sent off for a shoulder charge.

> Read what Steve Price had to say about Mike Cooper's red card here

However, the visitors regained their composure and Connor Wrench’s late try put the seal on a 40-24 victory.

Asked what his thoughts were amid his side’s mini-collapse, Price said: “At that point, we were wondering how we could get out of this vicious cycle we’re in and change momentum, but the boys did that.

“I was really pleased with how we finished the game with those three repeat sets. That was really positive.

“In the first half, I thought we were outstanding. We played the best footy we’ve played for a very long time.

Jake Mamo touches down. Picture by SWPix.com

“Then it was difficult – we went to 12 men then 11 and we were fighting for our lives.

“They scored a couple of quick tries in quick succession and we had to find a way to get momentum back.”

Peter Mata’utia – Mamo’s replacement at The Wire for next year – scored twice for Castleford, with Jordan Turner and Grant Millington also crossing as Daryl Powell’s men closed to within eight points.

With the play-offs around the corner, Price says he is more impressed with how his side wrestled back control than concerned about how they almost surrendered their dominant position.

“We played hard, we played fast and we outworked Cas early on. We had a good style of footy to our play,” he said.

“Defensively, we were really hard-nosed in that first half. They had a number of sets on our tryline and we kept turning them away.

“It was always going to change – they’re tough down here and they had a lot to play for.

“I thought we took the emotion out of the game early, but they got off the back of a couple of quick tries. We defended really well in that last 12 minutes.

“I’m more impressed with how we got it back and finished the game.

“We’ll take a lot of good things out of it but it’s an opportunity to keep learning about ourselves.”

“This is where the fun times start. We did what we had to do – they had a lot to play for and we took that away from them.

“That first 40 was the best we’ve played all season so we’re in a good place.”