Rugby: Rhinos maintain good run
Yorkshire rivals Leeds and Castleford continued their contrasting build-up to the Challenge Cup semi-finals in a thoroughly entertaining Super League derby at the Jungle.
The Rhinos started and finished strongly to gain a 36-16 win that lifted them to second in the table and left the Tigers still looking for their first home win of Super League VII.
And, while Leeds coach Daryl Powell is reasonably pleased with his side’s form ahead of their Cup semi-final with holders St Helens on Sunday week, Castleford boss Graham Steadman wore the look of a worried man as he looked ahead to a clash with Wigan.
Leeds, the League’s top scorers, began brightly as they raced into an 18-2 lead, with skilful loose forward Kevin Sinfield providing the final pass for all three first-half tries from Matt Diskin, Keith Senior and Ryan Sheridan.
But Castleford, lacking penetration throughout a one-sided first half, found their touch after the break and tries from Michael Eagar and Lee Harland cut the deficit to 18-16.
Had Wayne Bartrim maintained his 100 per cent accuracy with a 50-metre penalty, the Tigers would have drawn level.
But he was wide of the target and Leeds pulled away and sealed a third successive win with late tries from Rob Burrow, Ben Walker and Mark Calderwood.
‘‘We play the game on the edge at times and it’s pretty good to watch,’’ said Powell. ‘‘At times we play some fantastic stuff but I’m going greyer by the minute.
‘‘We lose concentration at vital times and put ourselves under pressure. Fortunately we’ve been able to turn it around this year and still win games when perhaps we’re not going well at times.
‘‘We’ve got two games against St Helens now and we’ll have to be better than we were last night.’’
Castleford have picked up just three points from their first five games and Steadman admits his team are struggling to put together an 80-minute performance.
‘‘I’m sick of giving teams a start,’’ he said. ‘‘We’ve got to get it right from the first minute. We can’t expect to give a side 18 points start and scrape a win.
‘‘We’ve got to work harder and get it right. We’ve an important fixture against Salford on Sunday to take into a semi-final the week after.’’
The Tigers’ woes were increased by glut of injuries to their slim squad, the most serious of which left centre Jon Wells with a serious back injury.
Steadman added: ‘‘It’s like an accident and emergency ward in the dressing room. I may have to bring in a few juniors for the weekend.’’
