It was fourth against sixth as the Leeds Rhinos looked to overcome last weeks disappointment against the Tigers as they welcomed a St. Helens, on the back of a one-point win over Salford, to Headingley Carnegie. A loss for the Rhinos could see them finish the weekend outside the top four, but a loss for Saints would make their top four quest increasingly difficult.

Saints defeated the Rhinos in round one by 6-4 but there has been a lot of water under the bridge, and a lot of personel changes, since the season’s opening fixture.

The match saw the Rhinos without Rob Burrow, Danny McGuire, Brett Ferres, Ash Golding and Jamie Jones-Buchanan through injury and suspension while Saints missed the services of Mark Percival who was serving a one game suspension.

On six minutes Saints lost Matty Smith after he was helped from the pitch following an accidental eye gouge by team-mate Jon Wilkin, which left him with blood streaming down his face.

Somewhat against the run of play, Saints opened the scoring on the quarter hour when Adam Swift went down the right touchline to score from forty metres off a Dominique Peyroux pass. Tommy Makinson failed to add the extras.

Three minutes later and the Rhinos were level after Kyle Amor had been penalised for being offside in the centre of the field. The Rhinos moved the ball downfield and on the fourth tackle Joel Moon managed to spin out of the tackle to drop over the line. Jordan Lilley hit the upright with the attempted conversion.

On twenty-six it was the Rhinos turn to sustain an injury as Liam Sutcliffe limped off with a hamstring injury but four minutes from the interval Lilley kicked a twenty metre penalty to edge the Rhinos into the lead at half time.

A Wilkin mistake put the Rhinos on the offensive and after a penalty against Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook the Rhinos used three tackles before Moon found Lilley who then put Stevie Ward over through a gap. Lilley added the extras for 12-4 to the Rhinos.

On forty-six the Saints were right back in the game after a scrappy try when Ash Handley failed to collect a high ball. Jon Wilkin picked it up but had it stripped before Peyroux picked up the loose ball and passed to Tommy Makinson to cross and score. Makinson added the extras and the margin was back down to two.

McCarthy-Scarsbrook backed into a tackle on fifty-two and offloaded to the supporting James Roby to walk over the line from three metres, regaining the lead. Makinson kicked a simple conversion from next to the sticks for 16-12 to the Saints.

A Jon Wilkin crusher tackle on Mitch Garbutt saw him yellow carded and taking a ten minutes rest.

A Lilley high kick to the corner on sixty-four was palmed back by Tom Briscoe, straight into the hands of Kallum Watkins to walk forward one pace and ground over the line. Lilley kicked the conversion and the lead changed hands again.

Nine minutes from time Theo Fages failed to collect a poor pass around his boot laces and at the end of the resulting set the Saints were forced into a goal line dropout. Three tackles into the resulting set of six and Joel Moon found a limping Ryan Hall to beat the last defender and dive over. Lilley converted brilliantly from wide and the Rhinos had some breathing space at 24-16.

On seventy-seven Alex Walmsley powered over the line, managing to ground the ball despite the attention of three Leeds tacklers. Makinson added the extras for 24-22, giving a nervous last two minutes for the home fans.

The Rhinos ground out a win against a dedicated and expansive opposition who seemed to run out of steam as the game entered its last quarter. The Rhinos are now up to second spot in Super League, six points behind the league leaders.

Rhinos: Walker, Briscoe, Sutcliffe, Watkins (T), Hall (T), Moon (T), Lilley (4G), Galloway, Parcell, Singleton, Ablett, Ward (T), Cuthbertson. Subs: Mullally, Garbutt, Ormondroyd, Handley.

Saints: Lomax, Swift (T), Makinson (T, 3G), Morgan, Grace, Fages, Smith, Thompson, Roby (T), Amor, Taia, Wilkin (SB), Knowles. Subs: Walmsley (T), Douglas, Peyroux, McCarthy-Scarsbrook.

Referee: James Child.

Half-Time: 6-4.

Full-Time: 24-22.

Attendance: .