Kallum Watkins inspires Leeds to victory, St Helens upset leaders Castleford, Warrington revival continues

There were also Easter Monday wins for Catalans Dragons and Hull

Monday 17 April 2017 20:17 BST
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Kallum Watkins scored 22 points as Leeds Rhinos joined Castleford at the top of the Super League
Kallum Watkins scored 22 points as Leeds Rhinos joined Castleford at the top of the Super League (Getty)

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Kallum Watkins scored 22 points with two tries and seven goals but Leeds were forced to withstand a fierce second-half fightback to complete a perfect Easter with a 42-22 victory over struggling Widnes.

The Rhinos, who won 52-24 at Hull on Good Friday, ran in five first-half tries to lead 30-6 at the break but three unanswered scores from the Vikings set up a tense finale.

Leeds' sixth win in their last seven games ensured that they stay hard on the heels of Betfred Super League leaders Castleford, albeit the Tigers have a game in hand and lead them by a healthy score difference advantage of 137.

Widnes, still with just one win in their first 10 games, remain rooted to the foot of the table.

Matt Parcell and Joel Moon also claimed a brace of tries for the Rhinos, with Tom Briscoe completing the scoring, while Tom Gilmore grabbed two tries and three goals for the visitors, with Chris Houston and Corey Thompson also touching down as the host’s fightback fell short.

St Helens produced a stunning performance to pull off a well-deserved 26-22 victory over Super League leaders Castleford.

Mark Percival touched down as St Helens upset leaders Castleford
Mark Percival touched down as St Helens upset leaders Castleford (Getty)

Saints delivered a fine first-half display before holding off a spirited Tigers fightback to hand stand-in boss Jamahl Lolesi his first win since Keiron Cunningham's departure.

Matty Fleming, Luke Douglas and Mark Percival all crossed as the hosts took a 20-8 lead into the interval, while Regan Grace's try with 12 minutes left proved decisive.

Greg Eden and Ben Roberts both touched down twice for Castleford, who suffered only their second defeat of the campaign.

Warrington's Super League revival continued as they claimed their third successive win after hanging on for a dramatic hard-fought victory over Huddersfield Giants.

Rhys Evans' late score helped Warrington Wolves to victory over Huddersfield
Rhys Evans' late score helped Warrington Wolves to victory over Huddersfield (Getty)

The resurgent Wolves are unbeaten in their last four games now and moved out of the bottom two of Super League and leapfrogged the Giants as a result of the 26-24 success.

Warrington trailed 20-16 on the hour at the Halliwell Jones Stadium but two tries in three minutes from Rhys Evans and Toby King looked to have settled a tense encounter.

In a dramatic finale, Giants winger Jermaine McGillvary crossed in the corner as the hooter sounded - but Danny Brough was inches wide with his touchline conversion attempt in a bid to claim a draw.

Harvey Livett, Kurt Gidley and Daryl Clark also crossed for Warrington, with Declan Patton landing three goals.

Half-back Brough was the key figure for the Giants as he scored a try and landed four goals but it was not enough to prevent their slide down the table. McGillvary, Jake Mamo and Darnell McIntosh crossed but Huddersfield have now failed to win in eight games.

Catalans Dragons secured a vital third win in a row over Salford to ease the pressure on head coach Laurent Frayssinous.

Catalans' victory over Salford eased the pressure on Laurent Frayssinous
Catalans' victory over Salford eased the pressure on Laurent Frayssinous (Getty)

The home side have now won three games in a row since their 38-18 home defeat to Wakefield forced crisis talks and saw Frayssinous given three games to save his job.

He and his team responded with away wins at Leigh and Huddersfield and added another at home as Vincent Duport's two tries set up a 38-6 success against Salford.

Leigh suffered their fifth consecutive Betfred Super League defeat at the hands of a Hull FC side who had lost their previous two.

Marc Sneyd inspired Hull to victory against Leigh
Marc Sneyd inspired Hull to victory against Leigh (Getty)

Inspired by half-backs Albery Kelly and Marc Sneyd, Hull scored three tries in quick succession during a devastating 11-minute first-half spell to take a grip on the game.

Centre Carlos Tuimavave scored twice as Hull FC produced the perfect response after conceding more than 50 points in their last two games against Salford Red Devils and Leeds Rhinos.

PA

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