Leigh Leopards game with Castleford Tigers ends all square

A try in the dying moments of normal time from Castleford winger Lewis Senior gave Rowan Milnes the opportunity to kick a conversion to level the scores and he sent the game to extra time.

Adrian Lam's men had the better opportunities to win it but could not apply the killer touch.

Leigh, who enjoyed a stunning win over last season's beaten Grand Finalists Catalans Dragons in their last game, dominated attacking possession in the early stages but were stunned by two tries from Castleford in quick succession.

Winger Louis Senior intercepted a pass from Matt Moylan intended for Josh Charnley on the left edge and he sprinted 80 metres to the corner to give the visitors a 4-0 lead. Milnes was unable to add the conversion.

Castleford scored a second try shortly afterwards. Jacob Miller took on the Leigh defensive line and sent out a well-timed pass for full-back Tex Hoy who showed great strength to shrug off three would-be tacklers and score. Milnes was on target with the conversion and Castleford led 10-0.

The long-awaited return of Papua New Guinea international hooker Edwin Ipape from injury in the 26th minute gave Leigh a much-needed lift, and he was involved in a try within seconds of replacing Brad Dwyer.

Ipape, who has not played since suffering an injury in Leigh's opening game of the season in February, set off from dummy half before Moylan and Lachlan Lam swapped passes, with Lam's next pass sending Moylan clear to score a try which he also converted.

That score saw the momentum of the game shift in Leigh's favour, with Castleford conceding a number of penalties and kicking the ball dead to gift possession back to the home side.

With three minutes of the half remaining, Leigh took the lead for the first time as Ipape's grubber kick bounced in the face of the unfortunate Hoy before being scooped up by Ipape who touched down. Molyan's conversion made it 12-10.

With 50 seconds of the first half remaining, Lam and Ricky Leutele linked superbly before winger Charnley held off three Castleford defenders to score in the corner after taking Moylan's no-look pass to the left. Moylan's conversion from the touchline made it 18-10.

Leigh made a bright start to the second half, scoring their fourth try in the 52nd minute. Lam delayed his pass for the supporting Leutele who powered over for a try which Moylan converted brilliantly from the touchline for 24-10.

A try for Castleford centre Sam Wood, finishing off a fine break by Hoy, kept Craig Lingard's men in the game but when Lam took an inside pass from Charnley to score in the corner, Leigh looked like they were set for the win, despite Moylan missing the conversion.

But Innes Senior produced a great finish to score in the corner and with Milnes adding the goal, Leigh's lead was cut to just six points.

With two minutes left on the clock, Lewis Senior produced an acrobatic finish to score in the corner to make it 28-26. Milnes' conversion off the touchline tied the game and took it into golden point extra time.

The first period ended scoreless, with Leigh going closest to scoring.

Moylan's drop-goal hit a post and bounced back infield before Lam saw his attempted drop-goal go wide, meaning the teams shared the points.