Keiron Cunningham: St Helens well placed for Grand Final spot
Thursday 8 September 2016 23:33, UK
St Helens coach Keiron Cunningham admits his side are handily placed for a tilt at Old Trafford after beating Castleford 40-16 to clinch a semi-final spot.
Saints ran in seven tries to three to make it nine wins from their last 10 matches and climb above Wigan into third place.
With games against lowly Widnes and Wakefield to finish with, Cunningham's side retain outside hopes of securing a home semi-final.
"It's not a bad spot to be in, is it?" said Cunningham. "The boys should be confident. They have been a bit edgy at the start of the last two games and that's something we've got to overcome.
"There's still a fair way to go and plenty of points to be won and lost for everyone."
Castleford were on course for a first away win over St Helens for 24 years when full-back Luke Dorn scored one try and sent winger Ryan Hampshire over for another to put his side into a 10-6 lead.
However, tries from substitutes Kyle Amor, Morgan Knowles and Luke Thompson, who was back from a one-match ban, in the second quarter turned the game and puts Saints into a commanding 24-10 interval lead.
"They changed the game for us," said Cunningham. "Thommo was a massive loss for us last week and tonight he showed he is a real force.
"Young Morgan Knowles is an unsung hero, one of those blokes who tidies everything up, and Kyle was phenomenal. He and James Roby are so consistent every week, you take them for granted.
"Cas really came and took it to us but I thought defensively we were good and there was lots of effort across the park. We finished strong and should have kept them scoreless in the second half."
With 13 players on the injury list, Andre Savelio unable to play against his parent club and Oliver Holmes pulling out on the day of the game through illness, Castleford coach Daryl Powell was forced to give a debut to academy forward Brandon Douglas and winger Paddy Flynn played most of the game in the front row.
The Tigers also lost back-row forward Junior Moors with a knee injury midway through the first half and winger Denny Solomona, who needs just one more try to equal the Super League regular-season record of Lesley Vainikolo, limped through most of the second half before being brought off five minutes from the end.
"I thought in lots of ways it was an awesome effort," said Powell. "There were some great signs for us, particularly with the start - the way we went after them was very pleasing - but obviously it was difficult to maintain it.
"There were some tough things that happened to us to flip the game. We could have done with conceding one try less at half-time.
"Ultimately it was always going to be a tough game to win - Oliver Holmes pulled out with illness and we lost Junior Moors so early in the game - but, if we had had a little bit more control in the second half, it could have been different.
"We had a couple of young fellas in there and a pretty young bench but I thought Brandon Douglas carried the ball well."
