Castleford rejoices with Greg Eden as they stop waiting for a long victory in St Helens | Super League

But when Greg Eden ran away during the dying seconds to finally end its three-decade wait for victory here, Powells ’reaction from the actors spoke a lot. He furiously hit the air as Eden took Lachlan Coote’s feed from the air, which could have won all the win St Helens after playing last quarter with 12 men.

I thought they would get us eventually, but it’s a magical play from Greg, Powell said. We have been logged out so many times this year, but we are still in this fight, and if we play that way, we had a chance. There was certainly no shortage of spirit on Powell’s side.

Wins against Leeds and now the reigning champions have revived their play-off push and taken them to the top six. But before the dramatic last 10 minutes here, this was a fiery incident for all the wrong reasons. Differences, penalties and some of the cards shown by Judge Ben Thaler had threatened to overshadow the competition.

The big talk came when St Helens Tommy Makinson was sent out and he went to the final quarter to challenge Niall Evalds, and by the time Castleford led 14-4, it felt like a game. But this side of St Helens is made of tougher stuff, and Alex Walmsleys is trying to hold the stage finale. However, that was not the case, and the Catalan now has the opportunity to open more daylight at the summit with a victory on Friday against Hull.

Our effort to get back to it was great, but there were too many mistakes and indiscipline, St Helens coach Kristian Woolf said. His side stayed here at halftime after 40 minutes of silent opening.

Both sides rejected plenty of chances to score in the first half, but the Saints eventually broke the deadlock when Cootes ’pass found Jack Welsby in the corner. But in the interim, Castleford went ahead when Eden made his first night, and Danny Richardson changed the sideline to make the score 6-4.

Richardson increased the penalty shortly before he turned again when Oliver Holmes was released and opened the 10-point lead. Makinson’s dismissal seemed to take the game outside the Saints, but they responded well, and the Walmsley company led to a surge in pressure. It looked like Castleford would be a buckle, but when Eden cut off Cootes ’passport and ran along the field, the party from the bench told you everything you need to know.