Leeds consolidated their place in Super League’s top four with a hard-fought 22-14 victory over Leigh Centurions at Headingley.
The Rhinos have been dominant on home soil this year - a defeat by Huddersfield aside - but they failed to hit those heights in a scrappy match in greasy conditions on Friday night.
Early tries from Adam Cuthbertson and Tom Briscoe put Leeds in control but Matty Dawson’s double either side of Joel Moon’s effort left the game in the balance at half-time.
Cuthbertson touched down again to give the Rhinos breathing space as Leigh lost their discipline after the break. Antoni Maria and Dayne Weston were both sin-binned for late tackles on Danny McGuire to twice give Leeds a numerical advantage on their way to a seventh win in eight home games.
Cory Paterson scored for Leigh on the last play of a forgettable match played out between two tired sides.
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Coach Brian McDermott admitted his Leeds players were “shot” after playing their third game in eight days of a “crazy” schedule. Last weekend’s spring bank holiday double-header - which was introduced to accommodate a pre-season England training camp that did not go ahead - has drawn widespread criticism from players and coaches.
McDermott said: “It’s crazy. It’s wrong. It doesn’t work. We’ve got a longer week building up to Wakefield but it’ll be in their bones still next week. You ask anyone who does a marathon or something which is a big ask physically, it’s not just a couple of days’ rest.”
On his team’s victory, he added: “I’m pleased we won. Our defence essentially got us the game. It’s clearly obvious there were things in offence we just couldn’t get right.”