Castleford comeback stuns leaders Leeds in thriller

Betfred Super League

Castleford (16) 36

Tries: Ravalawa, Golding, Qareqare 2, Asi, Ashworth Goals: Weaver 6

Leeds (20) 34

Tries: McDonnell 2, Edgell, Croft 2, Sivo, Holroyd Goals: Connor 3

Strugglers Castleford Tigers completed an extraordinary comeback to beat league leaders Leeds Rhinos in a thrilling West Yorkshire derby.

In one of the matches of the season, the Tigers came from 16 points down to claim just their second victory in seven matches as the Rhinos missed the opportunity to go four points clear at the top of the Super League.

A see-saw battle provided 13 tries as the final whistle was greeted by huge cheers at a red-hot OneBore Stadium as the Tigers moved above fellow Yorkshire clubs York Knights and Bradford Bulls into 10th spot.

Maika Sivo scored one of the best tries of the Super League season - one of four Rhinos tries in the first half - but his side went down to just their fourth league defeat in 19 games this season, having won their last seven on the trot.

Leeds received kick-off and opened the scoring after 60 seconds when James McDonnell ran through Joe Stimson to crash over on the attacking right edge.

In a dreadful start to the match for the home side, Castleford were penalised for offside and Jake Connor slotted an easy two points before Alfie Edgell collected a loose ball to dot down his first league try of the season with the hosts' appeals for a forward pass falling on deaf ears as Connor nailed the conversion.

Leeds grabbed a third try inside the first 15 minutes when Daejarn Asi's kick was charged down by McDonnell and Brodie Croft ran over half the length of the field to score as boos began to ring around some parts of the stadium.

Castleford got on the scoreboard when Phoenix Laulu-Togaga'e's sharp cut-out pass was well taken over his shoulder by Mikaele Ravalawa who crashed over under pressure from two Rhinos players in the right corner.

Moments later came the best try of the game as winger Sivo took a high-hanging ball, danced past two challenges and bounced off Tom Weaver to race 80 metres clear and touchdown Rhinos' fourth try with an outstanding individual effort.

A worrying moment came in the 33rd minute as Leeds hooker Daniel Levi suffered a serious-looking injury and had to be stretchered off needing oxygen. It was later revealed he had regained consciousness on the way to hospital.

When play restarted after about 15 minutes, Asi found Ashton Golding to score Castleford's second to the right of the sticks as Weaver kicked the extra two.

Momentum began to shift towards the home side as Alex Mellor's wonderful offload put Jason Qareqare in the clear and the winger finished brilliantly in the left corner. Weaver nailed the conversion from the touchline to reduce the deficit to four points at half-time.

Connor's brilliant no-look pass allowed Tom Holroyd to crash over from close range early in the second half and McDonnell found a gap to add his second as the Rhinos began to find their feet again.

But Castleford's heads did not drop and half-back Asi brilliantly held off four Rhinos defenders and twisted to touchdown to pull the Tigers back into the match.

And after a fantastic carry from Qareqare, the ball was recycled as Weaver presented Jack Ashworth with a short pass to run in a terrific team try. Weaver added the extras to make it a two-point game with 17 minutes left.

An illegal tackle allowed Weaver to kick Castleford level and the hosts then successfully challenged the on-field ruling of a knock-on and immediately took advantage as Jack Brown found Valemei who set up Qareqare to dive over to give the hosts the lead before Weaver superbly slotted the extras from touch.

Leeds fought back as Croft found a gap for his second try of the match but Connor's crucial conversion missed the target as the Rhinos fell short by two points.

Castleford Tigers coach Ryan Carr told BBC Radio Leeds:

"It was unreal. That's a big win for us. If anyone knew what we've been through - there's a lot that's gone down this week. A lot of adversity and we had to fight to beat the best side in the comp.

"Louis Senior had concussion symptoms on Thursday after we'd already trained so we had to move [Alex] Mellor to centre. We had to ring Jack Brown up to say you're playing now.

"Hoody's [Liam Hood] ankle is completely busted and he said, 'I'm playing'. I love that about my players. A lot of sacrifice has gone into it.

"That was a bad start. We didn't touch the ball for the first 10 minutes but the belief of the group is what pleases me most."

Leeds Rhinos coach Brad Arthur told BBC Radio Leeds:

"With the ball we were physically very good but we didn't want to do it without the ball. Our attitude to defence just wasn't good enough. Some poor choices around effort and in defence and not being worried about being connected to your mate."

On Daniel Levi's injury: "He's gone to hospital and he'll have scans on his neck. Hopefully it's all just precautionary. There's a bit of numbness which is probably normal when you get a whack like that.

"It wasn't nice. You can see a few of the boys, they couldn't look at him, they had to walk away. His partner was so strong while she was in the tunnel. It had an impact [on the result] but we can make better choices around that."

Castleford: Laulu-Togaga'e; Ravalawa, Valemei, Mellor, Qareqare; Asi, Weaver; Dupree, Hood, Lawler, Golding, Brown, Stimson.

Interchanges: Atoni, Ashworth, Hall, Robb.

Leeds: Miller; Edgell, Newman, Bird, Sivo; Croft, Connor; Oledzki, Levi, Jenkins, Hankinson, McDonnell, C. Smith.

Interchanges: Waktins, Nicholson-Watton, Cassell, Holroyd.

Referee: Liam Rush.