Super League: Leeds Rhinos 10-18 Castleford Tigers - Tigers overcome spirited Rhinos

Oliver Holmes scored his second try in two games for Castleford

Castleford Tigers made it back-to-back wins in Super League with a hard-earned derby win over rivals Leeds Rhinos at St Helens' TW Stadium.

Tigers edged the first-half scoring as Oli Holmes and Niall Evalds tries gave them a 12-4 lead with Luke Briscoe replying for the Rhinos.

The second half was a fierce contest and Leeds finally scored when Matt Prior stretched out from close range.

Jordan Turner finished off a slick move to give Cas a buffer late on.

After Warrington thrashed Leigh in the earlier game, this was a far closer contest with some boneshaking collisions between the two rivals.

While the lack of crowd makes for a strange atmosphere it does highlight the thudding ferocity of the physicality on show, and thumping tackles from Rhinos back-rower Zane Tetevano and Tigers prop Grant Millington audibly rattled around the stands.

Daryl Powell has made Cas a formidable opponent for former club Leeds and that was the case here with half-back Jake Trueman, hooker Paul McShane and Evalds all creating anxiety defensively.

Back-to-back wins in his final season at the Jungle mark an impressive start, just as they made in 2020 before the Covid-19 lockdown brought it to a halt.

Leeds were equally competitive, with younger players such as Corey Hall and Alex Sutcliffe showing their mettle but were breached at crucial times to slip to defeat.

Neither side will have been happy with the number of errors, particularly in good ball positions, but Cas did enough to ensure victory.

Leeds: Broadbent; T. Briscoe, Hall, A. Sutcliffe, L. Briscoe; L. Sutcliffe, Gale; Oledzki, Leeming, Prior, Mellor, Martin, Tetevano

Interchanges: Dwyer, Thompson, Donaldson, Smith

Castleford: Evalds; Olpherts, Mata'utia, Shenton, Turner; Trueman, Richardson; Watts, McShane, Millington, Holmes, Blair, Massey

Interchanges: Milner, Hepi, Sene-Lefao, Smith