SAINTS boss Justin Holbrook was understandably delighted with his side's 40-18 win over Castleford on Thursday night.

They had the game well in control by the mid point of the first half - after some fine collective and individual displays, with Jonny Lomax singled out.

And Holbrook revealed that Ben Barba was fine after limping off on the hour mark.

He said: “We knew it would be a hard game.

“We came here two weeks ago. It was a tough game then and we knew we would get the same again. It was a huge performance from us and I am really happy.

“The tempo of first half was high and I thought we handled it well.

"I also thought we were sharp with the ball and that is credit to the players. In the past Benny gets a lot of the raps and rightly so, but I thought Jonny Lomax was fantastic tonight.

“He was a handful all night and had a great game for us. I am really pleased with how well he played.”

There was some controversy over Ben Barba's length of the field try - but replays showed that it was a fair try, and one magnificently executed.

“I thought Swift knocked it backwards and it then bounced forwards which is fine,” Barba added.

“For Benny to do what he does; good players back themselves and I encourage him to do that. He is the player he is for reason and that was a great try.

“I was a good result but we know there is still work to do. There are plenty of good sides still in the comp.

"We won here two weeks ago and I thought we could still improve from there.

“We did that tonight and that is what we wanted to do and that is what we are working hard to do."