Derby day delight for Castleford Tigers against Leeds Rhinos

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Castleford Tigers gave themselves a much-needed boost in their play-off hopes as they came out victors in the West Yorkshire derby against Leeds Rhinos.

Leeds suffered back-to-back defeats after previously losing against Warrington Wolves by a single point, to then be beaten on home turf at the hands of the Tigers.

The Rhinos had all of the early possession, dominating the first 15 minutes or so with some close calls to opening the scoring, but it was Cas who made the breakthrough through Greg Eden, who scored on his return to the Castleford side. 

Cas then extended their lead with a Danny Richardson penalty which was followed by a Peter Mata’utia try as he crossed in the corner to give the Tigers a commanding lead. 

Leeds improved in the final 10 minutes of the first-half, scoring a try through Rob Lui, who was also making a return, and they nearly had a second through Liam Sutcliffe but he just lost a grip of the ball three minutes from the half-time whistle. 

The hosts came out for the second period the much better side, putting the resilient Cas defence under a lot of pressure, but the quality of the final pass was really letting Richard Agar’s side down. They did finally cross in the 49th minute as stand-in skipper for the evening Ash Handley left the Rhinos trialling by just two points after Rhyse Martin converted. 

It was Castleford who would see out the game in quite comfortable fashion with Jordan Turner, Eden and Jimmy Keinhorst all getting themselves tries as Cas ran out winners and pulled themselves closer to those desired play-off spots.

Richard Agar was disappointed during his post-match press conference, explaining how his team ‘wasn’t good enough on either side of the ball, attacking or defensively’ and too many of his players ‘didn’t look ready to play’.

Daryl Powell, on the other hand, was obviously delighted that his players put in such a spirited performance explaining that it was a ‘game they just had to win’ and emphasised how much of an ‘incredible win’ it was for his players and himself. 

Leeds will have to move on quickly and not dwell on the past two results with an away fixture against Leigh Centurions on Friday evening, a game where they cannot afford any slip-ups. 

As for the Tigers, they have a tough challenge of facing second-placed St Helens and will need the togetherness that they showed at Headingley if they stand a chance of getting something against the Saints.

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