Catalans Dragons 24-30 Leeds Rhinos: Late fightback takes Rhinos back up to third
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 08/05/17 1:09pm
Leeds scored three tries in the last 15 minutes to battle back for a 30-24 victory over Catalans Dragons in Perpignan.
Danny McGuire's blistering late try sealed a superb comeback from 10 points behind, and moved the Rhinos back up to third in the Super League table.
Leeds started quickly and were rewarded with an early try through Liam Sutcliffe, who collected McGuire's kick and touched down to the right of the posts before converting to give his side a 6-0 lead.
Catalans, who lost the influential Greg Bird at half-time in the reverse fixture, this time saw the Australian World Cup-winner last only five minutes, withdrawn with an eye injury after attempting to tackle Tom Briscoe.
But the hosts were level after 12 minutes when Lucas Albert fed Louis Anderson down the left and the second rower stepped past two Leeds defenders to try. With Luke Walsh and Krisnan Inu missing, Tony Gigot took over the kicking duties and added the conversion.
Calatans then took the lead in the 24th minute when Richie Myler and Lucas Albert combined to send Julian Bousquet over, and they extended it six minutes before the interval as Brayden Wiliame raced over to score his sixth try of the season.
Leeds reduced the arrears in the dying seconds of the half - Stevie Ward barging his way over from short range - and then Gigot had an effort ruled out for the Dragons just after half-time, but captain Remi Casty touched down soon after.
Leeds again trailed by 10 points but then hit back in stunning fashion. Joel Moon had a try ruled out for a knock-on but Adam Cuthbertson charged on to McGuire's pass to charge over from 30 metres out, and Sutcliffe's conversion narrowed the deficit to four.
The Rhinos had all the momentum and scored a second try in as many minutes when Rob Burrow latched on to the end of a flowing move that involved Ash Handley, Moon and Burrow, and Sutcliffe converted again
Leeds had a 24-22 lead with 12 minutes remaining but Gigot levelled the game with a penalty before McGuire stole the headlines with a superb solo effort, collecting the ball on the right before running across the field to break through a tiring Catalans defence.
