Castleford Tigers 6 Leeds Rhinos 48: Peacock back in triumph as Castleford curse luck

However, instead, the perfect storm materialised – a couple of dubious refereeing decisions, the return of England captain Jamie Peacock and some brilliant finishing saw rampant Leeds muster their biggest win at Wheldon Road. Take down the bunting.

It reminded Super League of what the former champions can still achieve – they have won all three games over the Bank Holiday period – and how far their ambitious foes still have to go.

Castleford led the competition three weeks ago but have not won in four games and are above sixth-placed Leeds only due to a superior points difference. They did not, however, deserve to be on the end of such a scoreline.

They trailed 4-0 when Castleford winger Richard Owen saw two efforts ruled out for forward passes from the sublime Rangi Chase, the first of which should certainly have stood.

Referee Richard Silverwood then missed a clear one in the build-up to Jamie Jones-Buchanan’s try which helped Leeds assemble a 12-0 interval advantage.

Kevin Sinfield also held up Kirk Dixon, the sort of resilience which typified Leeds’s spirit, but Tigers coach Terry Matterson struggled to understand how his side were denied their rightful position in the game. “They were absolutely wonderful pieces of rugby league from Rangi,” he said.

“I was going ‘wow’ and I’m sure the crowd was so to have them chalked off was absolutely ridiculous.

“They then come back up the other end and there’s a blatant forward pass. It dumbfounds you.

“It’s been a tough old seven days and this was just a game too far. We need to take our medicine.”

Chase has been lauded for his attacking brilliance but physical toughness is not something he is usually associated with.

However, the Kiwi spent 60 seconds early in the first half launching himself at everything with the ferocity of a royal wedding military salute.

Chase rocked Sinfield with one thunderous challenge which left the Leeds captain laid out and requiring lengthy treatment.

He recovered to see the stand-off rile Brett Delaney and Brent Webb in quick succession; Castleford certainly did not miss gnarled props Nick Fozzard or Craig Huby when it came to showing Leeds they were up for a fight.

However, the customary assets of Chase’s game were sometimes off-key. He missed a kick to touch from a penalty, raising ironic cheers from his own fans when he managed the feat soon after, and then the second pass to the luckless Owen was marginally forward.

They were the sort of assists Chase has delivered with precision for the past two seasons and he needed them on the money as Leeds’s defence was in no mood to gift any easy scores; they did not concede until the 70th minute.

Castleford were behind inside the first when Paul McShane’s cut-out pass from dummy-half caught Owen napping and Kallum Watkins squeezed in.

Peacock, back for the first time since rupturing his knee on the same ground last August, entered the fray in the 26th minute just seconds before Jones-Buchanan struck.

The towering prop soon produced a try-saving tackle on Martin Aspinwall but Sinfield slotted a penalty in the 32nd minute as Leeds rode the Tigers’ assault.

They then pulled away after the break. Castleford, for all their enterprise and endeavour, could not afford to allow their opponents any easy field position.

They did just that when Olivier Holmes dropped a standard pass 30 metres from his own line and, soon after, Ryan Hall bustled over in the corner.

Sinfield curled in the conversion to the 53rd-minute try and, trailing 18-0, it seemed Castleford’s hopes had gone. That was confirmed on the hour mark when Danny McGuire latched onto Peacock’s excellent midfield offload and evaded the cover to sprint in.

It was his first try since damaging a knee against Wigan in September – he only came back on Monday – but the dynamic finish proved that injury has seen the stand-off lose none of his pace.

With Leeds increasingly confident, their off-loading skills came to the fore, and Rob Burrow zipped over before the hosts got the try their effort deserved with 10 minutes to go through Joe Arundel, Dixon converting.

Then Holmes spilled the re-start and, after Ian Kirke’s strong surge, McShane dummied his way over.

Kirke barged over for another and then Webb dinked in a grubber for Hall to enter double figures for the season, Sinfield finishing with eight goals.

Peacock said: “It was good to be back and, also, it was nice to have a good involvement within the game. I said to Brian (McDermott) ‘if I play I don’t want to just make the numbers up’.

“It was a bold statement but that justifies it and it was nice to help get Danny (McGuire) over.”

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Castleford Tigers: Mathers, Dixon, Thompson,. Arundel, Owen, Chase, Orr, Jackson, Milner, Snitch, Jones, Holmes, Ferres. Substitutes: Emmitt, Aspinwall, McGoldrick, Clark.

Leeds Rhinos: Webb, Watkins, Delaney, Senior, Hall, Sinfield, Burrow, Leuluai, McShane, Burgess, Jones-Buchanan, Clarkson, Ablett. Substitutes: McGuire, Peacock, Cross, Kirke.

Referee: R Silverwood (Mirfield).