The home side dominated the first half but took their foot off the gas after the break and Nottingham, who had been Northampton's closest rivals in this division last season, sensed an upset.

However, Jonny Hepworth finished off a move set up by Tom Biggs to calm fears of a defeat before Biggs stepped up in stoppage time to score the crucial fourth try and seal the five league points.

Leeds started brightly as they dominated possession throughout the half so much so that Nottingham did not have their first meaningful attack in the Leeds half until the 37th minute.

Given that dominance, Back and Key would have been disappointed that their side were not further in front at the break, leading just 17-6 and having had Jon Pendlebury sent to the sin bin after 36 minutes.

Leeds had made the perfect start with back-rowers Hendre Fourie and Rhys Oakley scoring a try each inside the first eight minutes. Fourie took advantage of good work by props Mike MacDonald and Tommy McGee, while Oakley's try was assisted by Nottingham hooker Joe Duffey, his wayward line-out throw missed all of its intended targets and fell straight into the arms of the Leeds man, who simply dived over the line to score.

Alberto Di Bernardo added the conversion and then traded penalties with Nottingham's David Jackson. The latter then cut the deficit to 11 points on the half hour before Pendlebury was sin-binned for killing the ball in a ruck.

Leeds appeared stuck in a rut as the rain continued to fall after the break. In contrast Nottingham thrived on the opportunities afforded to them by Leeds' mistakes and the constant stoppages in play by referee Rowan Kitt, which seemed to bemuse both teams at times.

Nottingham managed to cut the Leeds advantage with another penalty from Jackson after 48 minutes, but that was soon cancelled out by Di Bernardo two minutes later with a penalty from 25 metres out.

Jackson added another penalty after 53 minutes and Leeds were beginning to look concerned and frustrated.

They needed a moment of inspiration and it came with eight minutes remaining from Biggs. The club's record breaking winger wrapping up a loose kick by Nottingham replacement Ben Thompson, but little seemed to be on in heavy traffic inside his own half. However, he stepped through the first tackle before chipping ahead. The Nottingham defence tried to block Biggs as he raced through, but they failed to spot the on-rushing Hepworth who brilliantly picked up the bouncing ball and raced in to score between the posts from 20 metres out. Di Bernardo added the conversion to make it 27-12.

Nottingham managed to get a try with three minutes remaining through Luke Sherriff and it looked like Nottingham would deny Leeds a bonus point, as they did twice to Northampton last season.

But as the game entered stoppage time, Richard Welding made a brilliant break down field before off-loading to Biggs, who cut back inside before racing through to score between the posts. Di Bernardo added the conversion to seal a 34-19 win over one of Leeds' major rivals for promotion this season.

Head coach Neil Back commented after the game that his side would need to learn lessons ahead of another tough game next Saturday at Exeter.

He said: "First and foremost we are pleased with the win and the bonus point. However, we need to improve ahead of next week. We dropped off a little in the middle part of the game and we cannot afford to do that at Exeter.

"It is good though to be learning these lessons in a winning situation."

Leeds Carnegie: Hinton, Armstrong, Hepworth, Barrow, Biggs, Di Bernardo, Bedford, MacDonald, Ma'asi, McGee, Murphy, Pendlebury, Paul, Fourie, Oakley. Replacements: Pala'amo for McGee (55), Nilsen for Ma'asi (70), Denton for Murphy (62), Boyde for Paul (75), Mathie for Bedford (46), Brooks for Barrow (70), Welding for Armstrong (62).

Nottingham: Jackson, Savage, Nirmalendran, Molenaar, Dodge, Taylor, Usasz, Parr, Duffey, Hall, Morley, Rouse, Hammond, Sherriff, Montagu. Replacements: Loney for Duffey (50), Fowkes, McDonald, Hemingway, Pilgrim for Usasz (74), Thompson for Taylor (65), Cobden.

Referee: R Kitt.