EVERY time the door to better times creaks open, it is being quickly slammed shut.

Those heading to Castleford did so in hope that finally, a corner had been turned by Warrington Wolves in this most trying of seasons.

However, it was like you could visibly see the momentum gained at Magic Weekend drain away in as little as 15 minutes.

In that time, Wire found themselves 18-0 down and hopelessly overrun by a Tigers side that was merely keeping it simple.

Warrington Guardian:

Derrell Olpherts touches down for one of the two early tries he scored. Picture by SWPix.com

They may have had a patched-up look about them, but their go-forward left the visitors on the back foot pretty much from the off.

Any sort of defensive line speed was non-existent from Wire and on a pitch so small where every set is an attacking one, you have to make teams work for their metres.

With the lack of intensity without the ball and the sloppy errors they produced, Warrington made it ridiculously easy for the hosts to roll up to – and in most cases over – their line.

Their abhorrent first-half showing meant the game was pretty much gone at the break, after which this group of players who have had their mentality attacked from all corners had two options – fight or fold.

With a seemingly insurmountable deficit and 40 more minutes in the sweltering heat facing them, many expected the latter but thankfully for those desperate for their team to show them at least some kind of response, they chose the former.

When Daryl Clark’s try reduced the lead to 11 points, leaving a Tigers side reduced to 12 men thanks to an elbow-first tackle from Cheyse Blair than can be described as untidy at best with 13 minutes to hang on, there was real hope.

What should have followed was a continuation of what had been working in the previous 15 minutes, but instead there was panicked attempts to force the issue that lacked any kind of control.

As such, the opportunity was presented to Castleford to wrap things up – one they gleefully took.

Warrington Guardian:

Stefan Ratchford cannot prevent Alex Sutcliffe from scoring the try that sealed victory for Castleford. Picture by SWPix.com

In the end, the result was a fair reflection as a team that knew their gameplan and stuck to it rightly bested one that all-too-easily strayed from whatever theirs was.

It left Daryl Powell having to appease the masses and for the most part, he does not top the lists of those supporters blame for this colossal mess of a season.

Watch what Daryl Powell said about his post-match conversation with angry fans below

However, he is creeping up those charts for some and patience is starting to wear thin.

His dramatic overhaul of the squad is still ongoing and perhaps fairer judgement of his work can happen when it is complete, but his support base is starting to shrink.

What happens when the white line is crossed is largely the responsibility of the players and with the possible exception of a handful, they all must look in the mirror and ask themselves why their own individual displays are so inconsistent.

However, with this group now mostly formed of players he wants to keep at the club, the head coach has to take his fair share of blame.