Leeds 24-25 Castleford: Tigers survive spirited Rhinos fightback
Last Updated: 24/03/18 7:32am
Castleford survived a Leeds fightback to clinch a 25-24 victory to gain revenge for last season's Grand Final defeat.
Leeds produced a tremendous fightback after trailing 24-0 after 23 minutes but, despite outscoring their opponents by five tries to four, had left themselves with too much to do in coach Brian McDermott's 200th Super League match.
The epic derby was witnessed by a bumper crowd of 23,246 at Elland Road, a Super League best for Leeds which fell short of their bid to break the competition record set by Wigan's 25,004 in 2005.
It produced a superb atmosphere and, unlike at Old Trafford where they produced a flat display, Castleford rose magnificently to the occasion.
The Tigers were without skipper Michael Shenton but Greg Minikin switched effortlessly to centre and, with hooker Paul McShane in inspirational form, they were at their old breathtaking best in the first half.
Stand-off Jamie Ellis got the ball rolling by latching onto Luke Gale's precision kick through the Leeds defence for the first of their four first-half tries after only five minutes.
The Tigers kept the ball alive superbly on the last tackle to work winger James Clare over for a second try, former Leeds second rower Alex Foster touched down from an Ellis kick and substitute Junior Moors crashed over from McShane's sharp cut-out pass.
Gale kicked all four conversions and, on the stroke of half-time, landed a long-range drop goal which ultimately proved crucial while, in between, the champions briefly stemmed the onslaught.
Leeds looked better for the introduction of teenage full-back Jack Walker after 24 minutes and, after pulling two tries back before half-time, were the better side for most of the second half.
Substitute prop Mikolaj Oledzki was denied a first Super League try after failing to control the ball from Richie Myler's grubber kick but centre pair Kallum Watkins and Ash Handley both reached the tryline after getting on the end of the half-back's high kicks.
Stand-off Joel Moon then had a try disallowed for a forward pass early in the second half but Leeds suffered a blow when prop Brad Singleton was sin-binned for a high tackle on Moors that sparked tempers flaring.
The home side were still down a man when Handley took Myler's pass and stepped neatly through the Castleford defence for his second try on 54 minutes and Watkins' second goal gave his side renewed hope.
Watkins sliced through the Tigers defence on 69 minutes to set up a nerve-jangling finish but he was unable to add the goal and he was also off target when England winger Ryan Hall went over for his side's fifth try three minutes from the end.
