KEIRON Cunningham is proud of his troops for backing up from last Sunday's South Sydney mauling to beat Castleford 21-14 last night.

Saints could have been forgiven for flat performance on the back of the draining physical and emotional effects of last week, but instead they produced an enthusiastic performance to see off the Tigers.

Cunningham said: "I was really proud of what they did.

"It wasn't the most entertaining of games but we won after an emotional week for us.

"A lot of pride was hurt after the Souths game. It was tough to get them up and ready for it on a short turnaround - we did about 20 minutes training which was recovery more than anything else - so I am really proud of the effort.

"We were done in certain areas but hung on in there. Castleford came to play and threw the ball about. We didn't seem to get going at times.

"When we lost Kyle we displayed the grit and determination I wanted to see. We got angry and nasty at what was vital period for us. It could have hurt us, but the boys lifted and I am proud of what they did."

He singled out James Roby for praise, despite having his effectiveness neutralised by the slow rucks that were permitted, and also gave credit to the way his outside backs rallied from last week.

"We have won three games now and I am more than happy with that. Cas have had a couple of games taken off them this season and at times they looked refreshed and had more energy than we had so perhaps they should have done better. But we hung on in there.

"The outside backs let us down last week. They've had a tough week video wise and I thought they were a lot better this week.

"James Roby was immense tonight though; he did everything and was making cover tackles from all over the place.

"He is probably brushing up in the stadium now," Cunningham said.

Castleford coach Daryl Powell was bitterly disappointed having sensed that Saints were ripe for the taking after their big, draining week.

Two tries in four minutes from winger Justin Carney briefly gave Castleford hope but they are still without a win after Saints managed to stem the tide of momentum.

Powell said: "I thought we should have won. It's a bit of a habit.

"It was a disappointing first half. We had lots of opportunities and didn't take any.

"I still thought at 10-0 we had a great opportunity to win the game but to give six points away in manner we did rocks you back.

"We had a purple patch but we couldn't sustain it. It's frustrating. The boys are working exceptionally hard but the clarity of our game is not there. We have a bit of work to do to tidy it up.

"We're not quite where we want to be. If we had been able to build pressure, would have won the game."