Castleford 6-26 LeedsMomirovski and Miller with two tries each for Rhinos
For all the heavy defeats Castleford Tigers have suffered in the opening weeks of the new Super League season, there is an argument this one will sting the most as their wait for a first league victory of 2024 continues.
Even their coach, Craig Lingard, would admit that for the majority of the first five rounds, Castleford have simply not been good enough. They have conceded points at will, been beaten heavily on numerous occasions and it already seems inevitable that a difficult season at the foot of the table lies ahead for the Tigers.
But for 40 minutes here, their fortunes seemed to have turned for the better. They were much improved against Leeds Rhinos, and were arguably the game’s dominant side. However, the one thing missing from that spirited first-half display in attritional conditions was the one thing that matters most: points on the board. And when the two sides went in scoreless at the break you felt the Rhinos, who had been second-best and been forced to defend their line repeatedly, would make the Tigers pay for their profligacy.
How that proved to be the case, with 20 unanswered points ultimately consigning Castleford to a sixth consecutive defeat to start the league season, while Leeds move to a perfectly respectable four wins from six. There is no doubting that these two sides are on different trajectories this year and as the Rhinos’ spine, led by the outstanding Brodie Croft, continues to click, they will be quietly confident they can compete this season.
The first half was one of almost complete dominance from Castleford, but their attacking issues were all too obvious in crucial moments. Time and time again, they had the ball deep in Leeds territory and were well-placed to strike and break the deadlock, but the Rhinos held them at bay on almost every occasion.
Castleford missed a chance to open the scoring from the kicking tee inside the opening quarter too as Danny Richardson’s penalty hit the post, but even then, that didn’t shift the momentum in favour of the Rhinos. The visitors were defending their line for large periods of the first half and while their efforts to keep Castleford out were commendable, the attacking play from the hosts was flat and lacking any sort of real cutting edge.
The Rhinos grew into matters after half-time but with the score 0-0 at the interval, it was clear in difficult conditions that Castleford had missed a string of glorious opportunities. And in the opening minutes of the second half, after absorbing all that pressure from the Tigers, Leeds struck a telling blow with arguably their first meaningful foray into Tigers territory to open the scoring against the run of play.
