Castleford Tigers’ recent momentum was checked as they went down to a 20-10 defeat at home to in-form Leigh Leopards, with head coach Craig Lingard lamenting a decisive turning point in Thursday’s game.
Castleford teenager Fletcher Rooney’s early try on his home debut gave Cas the perfect start, but the visitors hit back through Zak Hardaker’s touch down against his former club and Josh Charnley’s first score to lead 8-4 at the break.
Edwin Ipape raced 80 metres unopposed after gathering his charge down from Jacob Miller’s kick for a vital score early in the second half.
That was moments after Castleford full-back Tex Hoy was adjudged not to have grounded the ball when he went over and after Charnley struck again for a converted score, Joe Westerman’s effort for the Tigers came too late.
Castleford head coach Lingard was pleased his side did not fold after Ipape’s converted try put them 12-4 behind, moments after Hoy’s disallowed effort.
Lingard said: “It was a turning point. It’s a big swing where we should be scoring that try and kicking the goal to potentially go in front.
“But 40 seconds later we were stood behind the posts 10 points down as opposed to two points up.
Charnley touched down in either half to take his tally this season to 14 as Leigh chalked up their fourth straight win.
“He’s as good as he’s ever been in Super League,” said Leigh head coach Adrian Lam. “He wasn’t good when he dropped the ball with the (try) line open, I’ll admit that.
