LEIGH LEOPARDS overcame a stubborn Castleford Tigers outfit at The Jungle as the Super League relegation battle heats up.
As Wakefield Trinity were over the common beating Wigan Warriors, Castleford went down 34-18.
It was Leigh that struck first on 17 minutes with Tom Amone crashing over next to the posts off a suspicious pass. Ben Reynolds converted from in front as Leigh led 6-0.
That became two tries in two minutes as Lachlan Lam raced over off another suspicious pass to Amone sent the forward away. Reynolds made it 12-0 with two from two with the boot.
Tom Briscoe registered Leigh’s third effort on 25 minutes, taking advantage of a flowing move with Reynolds’ conversion stretching Leigh’s lead to 18-0.
The Tigers finally had their first try of the evening when a neat Riley Dean kick was grounded by Gareth Widdop on the half-hour. Widdop converted to make it 18-6.
Back came the hosts with a fine effort in the corner after Kenny Edwards offloaded to Elliot Wallis in the corner just before the break. Widdop converted expertly from out wide to bring Castleford back to within six at 18-12 at half-time.
Leigh struck a dagger blow to Castleford’s hearts just a minute into the second-half when Josh Charnley barrelled his way over. Reynolds couldn’t convert, but Leigh led 22-12.
Again, though, the Tigers came back with Widdop’s nice cut-out pass finding Wallis who dotted down for his second but this time Widdop’s conversion hit the post as Castleford remained six behind.
A bizarre decision from a scrum, which saw Castleford penalised at their own feed, gave Leigh a great opportunity to strike. And they did just that on the hour when Charnley crossed for his second. Reynolds converted to make it 28-16 with a quarter of the game to go.
And the final nail in the coffin was struck by Lam, who sped through a massive gap on 68 minutes. Reynolds converted to open up an 18-point lead at 34-16.
Castleford Tigers
6 Gareth Widdop
5 Bureta Faraimo
17 Jack Broadbent
3 Jordan Turner
26 Elliot Wallis
40 Riley Dean
7 Jacob Miller
32 Liam Watts
41 Jordan Johnstone
10 George Griffin
11 Kenny Edwards
12 Alex Mellor
13 Joe Westerman
Substitutes
15 Alex Sutcliffe
20 Muizz Mustapha
24 Cain Robb
28 Sam Hall
Tries: Widdop (30), Wallis (39, 48)
Goals: Widdop 2/3
Leigh Leopards
17 Gareth O’Brien
5 Josh Charnley
4 Ricky Leutele
1 Zak Hardaker
2 Tom Briscoe
15 Ben Reynolds
7 Lachlan Lam
8 Tom Amone
9 Edwin Ipape
14 Ben Nakubuwai
3 Ed Chamberlain
16 Oliver Holmes
13 John Asiata
Substitutes
6 Joe Mellor
12 Jack Hughes
18 Matt Davis
25 Nathan Wilde
Tries: Amone (17), Lam (19), Briscoe (25), Charnley (42, 60), Lam (68)
Goals: Reynolds 5/6
Half-time: 12-18
Referee: Liam Moore
