Castleford 38-24 Leeds: Tigers produce comprehensive display to crush Rhinos

Castleford's Ben Roberts notched two tries as they extended their lead at the top of the Super 8s

Castleford extended their huge lead at the top of Super League with a comfortable 38-24 victory over second-placed rivals Leeds Rhinos at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle.

The Rhinos came into the match on the back of a seven-match losing streak to the Tigers, including a heavy 66-10 defeat in the corresponding fixture in March, but they started on the front foot with Kallum Watkins scoring to put them into an early lead.

However, it was one-way traffic after that as Castleford ran in 30 unanswered points with Greg Eden, Ben Roberts (two), Jake Webster and Alex Foster all crossing the whitewash to give the hosts a deserved and dominant lead.

Jamie Jones-Buchanan crossed early in the second half to give the visitors a glimmer of hope before Greg Minikin dotted down for Castleford, for whom half-back Luke Gale landed seven goals from as many attempts. Rhinos hooker Matt Parcell and Mitch Garbutt touched down to round off the try-scoring.

Leeds centre Kallum Watkins got them off to a good start but it was all Cas thereafter

It could prove to be a significant win for Daryl Powell's side in a potential dress rehearsal for the Grand Final at Old Trafford on Saturday October 7.

The match started with the typical ferocity of a top-two clash, with influential Leeds second-rower Stevie Ward going off after just five minutes with a head injury.

But that setback did not disrupt the visitors as Garbutt was held up over the line one minute later before Watkins touched down in the corner in the next phase for his 100th Super League try, which the England international converted himself with an excellent touchline kick.

But Castleford were level seven minutes later when a sweeping move from right to left created the overlap for Eden to register his 37th league try of the season, with Gale tagging the extras from the touchline.

Both sides started to make handling errors as they looked to make a breakthrough, with Adam Cuthbertson going close for the Rhinos but held up over the line by a stubborn Castleford defence.

That defensive effort was rewarded at the other end as patient build-up eventually saw Junior Moors send Roberts in to slice through the Leeds defence and put the Tigers 12-6 ahead with the addition of Gale's conversion.

Greg Eden was also on the scoresheet as Cas crossed for five tries

The Super League leaders soon extended their advantage four minutes later when Webster crashed over from close range following a quick play-the-ball from Paul McShane.

The Tigers continued to fire as they hit top gear and it was not long before they moved 30-6 up. Foster powered his way over the line before Roberts latched onto an inch-perfect Gale grubber to dot down for his second score, while the former added his fifth kick of the match.

Leeds ended their scoring drought five minutes after the restart when veteran forward Jones-Buchanan squeezed over the line from the base of the scrum following Minikin's knock-on.

The Castleford winger redeemed himself moments later, however, when he collected a Webster offload to step in and dive for the hosts' sixth try.

Handling errors crept into both teams' attacking play as the physicality of the match looked to have caught up, but Parcell scooted over to give the Rhinos a chance of a revival at 36-18 with 15 minutes remaining.

Powell's side lacked the fluidity of the first half and were hampered by a leg injury to full-back Zak Hardaker but Gale added a penalty late on for the Tigers. Garbutt crashed over on the full-time hooter but it was merely a consolation score as the hosts moved 12 points clear at the top of the table.