Castleford Tigers 44 Salford City Reds 30: Chase is irreplaceable at Tigers, insists boss Powell

Chase, who has put in a transfer request, was Castleford’s match-winner against the club he is set to join next season.

Salford recovered from 20-6 down to lead 24-20 before England stand-off Chase transformed the game with a superb 62nd-minute solo try that sparked a burst of three tries in four minutes.

“I had a chat with Rangi at half-time because I thought he was trying to do a little too much at times in the first half,” said Powell.

“He then has a period like he had in the second half where he is unbelievably difficult to handle. Everything he did turned to gold for a 10-minute period which put us on the front foot and got us us back into a winning position.

“Rangi is special player and he certainly is if you give him any time.

“When you lose a player you gain one from somewhere and find a way to play that suits the players you’ve got at the time.

“You can’t replace Rangi, you’ve got to play slightly differently.There’s a lot of talk about Rangi but if he has seen fit to play somewhere else that’s his prerogative. Obviously, the club will do well out of it and we’ve got to make sure what we end up with next season is a positive situation.”

Winger Justin Carney scored three tries and Michael Channing bagged two in Castleford’s third successive win.

“It looked during the first half and parts of the second that it was an end of season game that didn’t mean a lot but we found enough to score some quality tries,” Powell added.

“From an attacking point of view we did some smart things but we just lost our way for a period which is pretty typical of us.

“The positive thing at the moment is that we are able to grab it back and we are finding enough character to win games from tough positions. I am really pleased that we got the two points but we lack consistency and that’s why we are where we are in the table.

“But there’s loads of positive like there is every week.”

Utility back Ben Reynolds, who signed a two-year contract last month, was handed his Tigers debut from the bench, while Michael Channing, on loan from London Broncos, was recalled at centre.

The Reds came under pressure when Lee Gaskell’s attempted touch-finder went out on the full and Castleford capitalised when Jamie Ellis, Chase and Jordan Tansey linked to send in Channing for a fourth-minute try that Kirk Dixon goaled.

With Chase and Ellis pulling the strings, the Tigers continued to dominate and winger Carney made several powerful runs.

Salford’s Gareth Owen scored from Theo Fages’s grubber kick in the 22nd minute but the effort was ruled out for offside.

Two minutes later, the Reds fell further behind when Grant Millington sent Tigers skipper Michael Shenton racing over to put them 10-0 up.

Salford hit back in the 32nd minute when Castleford’s Weller Hauraki failed to catch Ellis’s pass and Jodie Broughton scooped up the loose ball to score a 45-yard try that Marc Sneyd converted.

Castleford increased their lead to 14-6 shortly before half-time when clever play by Tansey and Shenton made the opening for Carney to stretch his try scoring run to six successive matches with his 19th touchdown of the season.

The Tigers shot further ahead two minutes into the second half when Ellis and former Salford prop Ryan Boyle split open the Reds defence for Dan Fleming to charge over for his first try for the club that Dixon goaled.

The Reds got back in the game when McGoldrick and Jordan Davies sent in Danny Williams at the corner before slick passing put in Broughton for his second score and Sneyd converted both to cut the deficit to two points.

Salford then snatched the lead for the first time with their third try in 11 minutes when Broughton completed his hat-trick from Gaskell’s pass and Sneyd added his fourth goal.

However, the Tigers stormed back with three tries in four minutes. Chase put Castleford back in front when he dummied his way over for a clever solo try that Dixon converted.

Chase and Hauraki then set up Channing’s second try before Carney raced 50 yards for his second.

Chase’s superb break saw Carney complete his hat-trick six minutes from time to seal Castleford’s victory and send Salford sliding to a fourth successive defeat.

Williams scored his his second try and Sneyd kicked his fifth goal but the Tigers had the last word with Jordan Thompson’s last-minute try from Chase’s pass.

Castleford: Tansey, Dixon, Channing, Shenton, Carney, Chase, Ellis, Boyle, Milner, Huby, Millington, Hauraki, Massey. Substitutes: Clark, Thompson, Fleming, Reynolds.

Salford: Gaskell, D. Williams, Gibson, McGoldrick, Brotherton, Sneyd, Fages, Griffin, Owen, Emmitt, Ashurst, Dixon, Wild. Substitutes: James, Davies, J. Walne, A. Walne.

Referee: C Leatherbarrow (RFL).