Tigers maul sorry Leeds

World Club champions outclassed by Castleford

By Tony Curtis   Last updated: 7th March 2008

Tigers maul sorry Leeds

Dorn: Two tries for Castleford.

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World Club champions Leeds were brought crashing back to earth after a shock 38-20 defeat to Castleford Tigers.

The Rhinos had looked to be on course for a fifth straight victory in the engage Super League when Scott Donald open the scoring after 15 minutes.

However, the Tigers belied their league position with five unanswered tries to leave the visitors on the ropes.

Joe Westerman, Stuart Donlan, Luke Dorn and Michael Shenton (2) all crossed before Leeds hit back with two Donald tries and one from Jordan Tansey.

However Ryan McGoldrick and Dorn ensured that there was to be no Leeds fightback.

There was little to choose between the two rivals in the opening exchanges, however when Donald opened his account after breaking clear from a quick break down the blindside, Cas must have feared the worst.

However that was the last the visiting fans had to cheer about until the second half as the Tigers rattled up 24 points.

Westerman opened the home side's account when Leeds failed to deal with his kick and the Cas back was able to crash over on 20 minutes.

Two minutes later and Castleford were in front as Donlan crossed in the corner.

Revival

And it was 14-6 by the break as Dorn pounced on Brent Sherwin's chip ahead to score. Westerman converted.

Hopes of a Leeds revival in the second half were quickly killed off as Shenton scored just 19 seconds after the restart. Sherwin may have spilled the kick off, but the ball went back and Donlan made the initial hard yards before releasing Shenton.

And Shenton crossed again after stepping inside off his wing, with Westerman's conversion seeing the Tigers into a 24-6 lead.

Rhinos, though, came storming back with Donald crossing twice in six minutes.

However, Castleford moved 16 points in front when McGoldrick ghosted through the Leeds defence and Westerman converted.

Shenton was denied his hat-trick by the video referee on 65 minutes - however Westerman's penalty five minutes later put the game out of sight.

Leeds got a consolation effort, though, when Tansey scored in the corner with four minutes left and Sinfield converted.

However Castleford had the final word with Dorn's second of the match and Westerman's conversion.