Leigh climb to third in Super League after comfortable win
Leigh Leopards 46 - 6 Castleford Tigers
Leigh Leopards climbed to third in the Super League after a comfortable victory over Castleford.
Author | Amy W
Stadium | Leigh Sports Village
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Leigh Leopards battling away |
Tries from Frankie Halton, Lachlan Lam, Keanan Brand and Josh Charnley had the hosts cruising by the 26th minute, opening up a commanding 24-0 lead.
Castleford, under the interim stewardship of Chris Chester until Ryan Carr arrives as permanent head coach in 2026, remain second from bottom after suffering their 19th league defeat of the campaign.
A closer look at what happened
Fresh from resting key players in their 38-6 victory over bottom side Salford six days earlier, Leigh struck inside four minutes when the returning Joe Halton finished from Lachlan Lam’s pass after Josh Brand had gone close.
It set the tone for a dominant performance, with Leigh looking sharper in every area than opponents who had been beaten 38-4 at Catalans Dragons on Saturday. They struck again when Isaac Liu’s strong carry created space for Lam, who shaped to pass to Brand before stepping past Louis Senior to score.
The Papua New Guinea international was central once more just minutes later, linking smartly with Umyla Hanley to tee up Brand, who applied a composed finish. Gareth O’Brien added the extras from a tight angle.
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Lam then produced a deft 40/20 kick to set up Josh Charnley, who crossed on the left to bring up 1,500 career points, a tally that includes 244 for the Leopards and 862 during his time with Wigan Warriors between 2010 and 2016.
O’Brien converted again from distance, underlining Adrian Lam’s belief that his returning players would benefit greatly from their recent rest.
Hooker Edwin Ipape, who has been one of those players building their fitness, joined Liu in dictating play, while Castleford were hampered by losing prop forward Tom Amone to a twisted ankle early on.
The second half started in quieter fashion, with Leigh making noticeably more unforced errors, including two shortly after the break by Jack Hughes.
Finishing the match with a flourish
Halton almost ended a 26-minute gap between the fourth and fifth tries but seconds later Lam played in Alec Tuitavake to burst through at close range and put Leigh firmly on course for their largest-ever win in this fixture, eclipsing their 30-6 home victory in 2023.
Tuitavake's try seemed to deflate the Tigers, who conceded again five minutes later after a review disagreed with Castleford's appeals that scorer Brad Dwyer had been offside when the move began.
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Cain Robb was unable to halt Tuitavake as he powered over from close range for his second try just two minutes later, although Castleford quickly responded with a consolation when Tex Moy finished off Liam Horne’s forceful run.
Hanley hit back in style, bursting through before Lam produced another incisive pass to set up Brand for his second score on the right.
Leigh’s fourth consecutive victory in this fixture keeps them firmly in the hunt for a first-ever top-four finish and the prospect of home advantage in the play-offs, though Lam will be concerned by the injury to the influential Owen Trout.
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