Resurgent Leeds climb to third in Super League with Castleford win

Harry Newman of Leeds celebrates after scoring a try in their win over struggling Castleford

Harry Newman and Sam Lisone both crossed twice as resurgent Leeds climbed to third in the Betfred Super League with a comfortable 29-6 win over struggling Castleford at The Jungle.

Brad Arthur’s men finished strongly after surviving a torrid period at the start of the second half, in which a bad mistake by Castleford winger Innes Senior proved to be a pivotal moment.

The home side had hauled themselves within a point of their opponents when Senior misjudged Brodie Croft’s kick to the corner and let Newman in to flop on the loose ball and extend Leeds’ lead.

The visitors never looked back, with Ryan Hall building on last week’s late heroics against Hull by adding his name to the five-try show, while Jake Connor contributed nine points with the boot.

Lisone’s opener on the half-hour mark, shortly after Sam Hall had been penalised for a ball steal on the edge of the Castleford 10, had been the only notable action of an instantly forgettable first period.

Leeds withstood some early pressure then failed to take advantage when Castleford hooker Liam Horne was sent to the sin-bin for delaying the restart.

Lachlan Miller roved relatively close before being hauled down by Zac Cini, and Newman spilled the visitors’ next best chance of breaking the deadlock.

Lisone finally went over from Connor’s short pass, and Connor proceeded to stretch Leeds’ half-time lead to seven with a conversion and a late drop goal.

It was a different story after the interval. The hosts needed less than a minute of the second half to get on the scoresheet, Alex Mellor barging through a tackle in the opening set and sending Louis Senior bursting clear down the left flank.

Rowan Milnes kicked the touchline conversion to haul Cas within a point, but any hopes Castleford had of making the most of their momentum were dashed by Innes Senior’s misjudgement, which let Leeds off the hook.

Just two minutes later another Croft kick caused havoc and Hall darted in to score Leeds’ third, with Connor’s second conversion suddenly lifting the Rhinos into an impregnable-looking 17-6 lead.

Milnes’ try-saving tackle on Ash Handley prevented Leeds going further clear, and moments later Louis Senior’s lung-bursting length-of-the-field burst proved in vain as the Cas centre’s effort was ruled out for a knock-on.

As the home challenge frayed, Newman went over for his second from close range and Lisone delighted the massed ranks of fans behind the posts by putting the seal on his side’s win.

Sky Sports will again show every game of Super League live this season – including two matches in each round exclusively live, with the remaining four matches each week shown on Sky Sports+ via the red button.