DESPITE missing 14 of their regular first-team squad through rugby league international call-ups, injuries and suspension, and looking in danger of being over powered, Leeds Rhinos came from behind to pull off an extraordinary win at a disbelieving Headingley.

The Castleford fans travelled in numbers, knowing the bottom side had an unprecedented opportunity to turn over the engage Super League leaders on their own ground. Already without Keith Senior, Rob Burrow, Danny McGuire, Kevin Sinfield, Gareth Ellis, Jamie Peacock and Eric Anselme, the first six of whom played for England and the last named for France in the international in Toulouse on Friday, Leeds coach Brian McClennan could have done without Nick Scruton’s suspension and Jordan Tansey failing a fitness test, but was able to name Ali Lauitiiti in the second row.

While props Michael Haley and Joe Chandler were the only youngsters to be actually making their first-team debuts, stand-off Danny Allan had only one appearance off the replacements bench to his name, prop Luke Burgess had made one senior start, while full-back Ben Jones-Bishop, loose forward Simon Worrall and hooker Ben Kaye had each made just two. The 13 British players of the 17 were all products of the academy.

Had Lauitiiti not dropped the ball over the line during Leeds’ first attacking surge, McClennan’s makeshift team would have had the perfect start, but the early invention and acceleration shown by Allan was encouraging for the Rhinos’ fans. So was the readiness of the juniors to throw themselves into the tackle, but the extra weight they were conceding to the Castleford forwards began to tell. The likes of Ryan Bailey, Matt Diskin and Kylie Leuluai could not be everywhere, and after 20 minutes of increasing Castleford pressure, the Tigers worked an overlap for Richard Owen to cross on the left.

Allan almost hit back immediately, running clear on the halfway line only for Owen to pull off a superb last ditch tackle. Leeds should still have made the field position count, but a cynical intervention by Ryan McGoldrick, running back from offside, prevented them following up to score. Referee Phil Bentham’s decision not to sin-bin the Castleford loose forward was hard to understand, and then an almost immediate knock-on gave the visitors the chance to clear their line.

A Craig Huby penalty stretched the lead to six, and McGoldrick looked certain to go over, only to have the ball knocked from his hands. Jamie Jones-Buchanan went close as Rhinos rallied, but it was Castleford, with Luke Dorn prominent, who finished the half in charge.

The appearance of Joe Westerman at the start of the second-half suggested coach Terry Matterson knew Castleford should have been further ahead, and a 60-yard run by the teenager took the Tigers deep into Leeds territory. The ball went left through a set of six, at the end of which Dorn launched a high kick back across the field for Westerman, jumping high, to catch, twist and score.

Adam Fletcher almost made it two tries in two minutes, gathering Brent Sherwin’s kick, only to be bundled into touch by Danny Williams, but Leeds struck back hard. Leuluai shrugged off two tacklers to work the ball to Simon Worrall, whose off-load created room for Lee Smith to outpace Stuart Donlan and cross in the corner.

The referee’s decision to penalise Worrall when Michael Korkidis appeared to have twice raised his hand into the Leeds’ player’s face in the tackle allowed Huby to kick Tigers two scores clear, but Leeds were not finished. Luke Donald and then Allan gave Brent Webb a clear run to the line, and now it was all Leeds. Diskin powered clear under the posts to put them ahead for the first time, but it took a superb tackle by Jones-Bishop on Donlan to keep them there. Smith kicked a penalty, but it needed five minutes of committed defence before the win was confirmed. Star man: Danny Allan(Leeds) Leeds:Jones-Bishop; Hall, Jones-Buchanan, Smith, Donald; Allan, Webb; Leuluai, Diskin, Burgess, Lauitiiti, Bailey, Worrall Castleford:Donlan; Fletcher, Shenton, Owen, Wainwright; Dorn, Sherwin; Huby, Henderson, Korkidas, Lupton, Catic, McGoldrick Scorers: Leeds: Tries:Smith, Webb, Diskin Cons:Smith 2 Pen:Smith Castleford: Tries:Owen, Westerman Pens: Huby 2 Referee:P Bentham Attendance:17,619