Sinfield sees Leeds through
Leeds skipper Kevin Sinfield kicked a penalty in golden-point extra time to clinch a 10-8 win over Castleford.
By Rob Lancaster
Last Updated: 08/08/11 10:52am
Leeds will be returning to Wembley after Kevin Sinfield kicked a penalty in golden-point extra time to clinch a 10-8 win over Castleford.
The Rhinos skipper had already held his nerve with a late conversion to level matters, before stepping up again at the start of overtime to finally settle a bruising encounter at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster.
Castleford had appeared to be on course to reach Wembley when a try from Rangi Chase and two Kirk Dixon penalties put them 8-2 in front.
However, Kallum Watkins crossed with eight minutes to play and the Rhinos then relied on their captain to boot them to a showdown with Wigan.
Premium
Points had been at a premium throughout the Yorkshire derby, with the two sides only separated by Sinfield's 24th-minute penalty at the break.
For much of the opening period the battle had been fought up front, and inevitably there were casualties; Nick Youngquest had to be helped off the field for Castleford while Leeds' Carl Ablett ended up with tape all around the top of his mouth after spilling blood for the cause.
Eagle-eyed referee Phil Bentham ruled out tries for Jamie Jones-Buchanan and Ryan Hall due to forward passes, while Leeds also went close through Rob Burrow and Danny Buderus, who was held up by three Tigers defenders.
Castleford, in contrast, never quite threatened with the same intent at the other end of the field.
Chase, who flew back to Australia earlier this week for a court case relating to an incident that happened before he joined the Tigers, probed away with some neat kicks, but nerves seemed to be getting the better of the underdogs.
However, the New Zealander produced a moment of individual brilliance three minutes after the re-start to put his team in front.
The half-back fended off one Rhino to break free down the left wing and, rather than use the help of a supporting team-mate, opted to stand up full-back Brent Webb before sprinting away from him to the corner.
Dixon proved unable to add the extras from the touchline but did land two penalties, the second of which put the Tigers six points clear with just nine minutes to play.
Helping hand
Having failed to fire for the majority of the second half, Leeds were suddenly in desperate need of a helping hand to stay alive.
They got it, too, when Ben Davies' unnecessary offload deep in his own territory was correctly called back for being forward. From the resulting set of six Watkins went over on the right, carefully stopping Weller Hauraki's acrobatic offload with a boot before picking up to finish with a flourish.
Sinfield converted from out wide and then stepped up again from closer in to win the game after Ryan McGoldrick's high tackle on Danny McGuire.
Defeat was tough on the Tigers, who had seen the talismanic Chase push a last-gasp drop goal wide from in front of the posts in the final minute of regulation that would have booked them a trip to the capital.