Castleford Tigers 14 Leeds Rhinos 8: West Yorkshire derby just the tonic for beleaguered hosts

It turns out all they needed was a visit from fiercest rivals Leeds Rhinos.

The West Yorkshire derby often brings out the best in the Tigers and Leeds again found themselves on the wrong side of an inspired performance.

Led superbly by former Rhinos hooker Paul McShane, Castleford were unrecognisable from the opening four rounds of the new Super League season.

Bureta Faraimo scored the all-important first try – just Castleford's third since round one – and added a second to break the club's 2023 duck.

Leeds hit back in the first half through Richie Myler but could have few complaints about a third defeat of the year, which was confirmed when former Tigers winger Derrell Olpherts bombed a try late on.

From the Joe Westerman sex scandal to Jake Mamo's sudden departure and the loss of Lee Radford in between, it has been a wretched start to the season for Castleford.

All the focus was on the beleaguered Tigers in the days leading into the derby but Kruise Leeming dominated the pre-match chat inside the stadium after a report emerged that he had been given permission to look for another club.

Although he recently lost the captaincy, it was a sizeable bombshell ahead of a challenging fixture at the home of a fierce rival.

Castleford quickly set about taking advantage of any distracted minds in a fast start by the hosts.

Myler had to be alert to deny former Rhinos team-mate Alex Mellor after the back-rower poked his nose through the line and Nene Macdonald atoned for a loose offload on his own 40 with a vital defensive read to slow Greg Eden in his tracks.

Leeds were guilty of indiscipline with and without the ball, giving Castleford the field position for the opening try on 17 minutes.

After Olpherts went high on Jason Qareqare, the hosts caught the Rhinos short of numbers with a neat shift to the right to give Faraimo the time to finish in the corner.

Gareth Widdop missed the conversion but Castleford had the start they craved.

Leeds were beaten to the punch in an opening quarter dominated by the Tigers, one raid aside on the back of a superb 40/20 by Blake Austin.

Faraimo was front and centre as the rain began to fall at the Jungle, raising the volume with a huge hit on Harry Newman before sparking groans from the home fans after bombing what appeared to be a certain try from Jack Broadbent's slick pass.

That had the makings of a major turning point as the Rhinos carved Castleford open against the run of play.

Aidan Sezer bounced out of an attempted tackle by Westerman to give Cameron Smith the chance to find a hole in the Tigers defence. His offload found Austin who sent Myler over under the posts.

Rhyse Martin nudged Leeds ahead but they were quickly pegged back by a Widdop penalty following a late hit by James Bentley on Jacob Miller.

The Rhinos laid siege to the Castleford line as half-time approached after a messy play the ball by Mahe Fonua left the home side under pressure.

Leeds turned down two kickable penalties but could not resist going for goal from a third in a nod to the Tigers' goal-line resilience.

Martin's second goal nudged the Rhinos 8-6 ahead at the break and it felt like the momentum was with Rohan Smith's side.

But Castleford were not in the mood to go away buoyed by a vociferous home crowd.

Widdop missed the chance to level the scores from a long-range penalty and in the next set Myler denied Eden with a crucial tackle.

But in contrast to their previous games, the Tigers did not allow their heads to drop and found a way through from a scrum play.

An incorrect play the ball by Macdonald left Leeds defending their own line and they could not prevent Faraimo from crashing over in the corner.

Widdop nailed the touchline conversion and added a penalty to give Castleford a six-point lead heading into the dying minutes.

The Rhinos gave their rivals the odd scare but they knew it was not their night when Olpherts dropped the ball with the tryline begging.

Castleford Tigers: Eden, Faraimo, Broadbent, Fonua, Qareqare, Widdop, Miller, Mustapha, McShane, Massey, Milner, Mellor, Westerman.

Substitutes: Edwards, D Smith, Matagi, Watts.

Leeds Rhinos: Myler, Olpherts, Macdonald, Newman, Fusitu'a, Austin, Sezer, Holroyd, O'Connor, Tetevano, McDonnell, Martin, C Smith.

Substitutes: Bentley, Sangare, Lisone, Roberts.

Referee: Aaron Moore.