Mercurial captain Iestyn Harris came to Leeds' rescue with the match-winning try as the Rhinos struggled to overcome an under-strength Castleford team 26-14 in front of a 10,059 crowd at Headingley.
The teams were locked at 12-12 when Harris was introduced as a 54th-minute substitute. Within two minutes, the Great Britain ace had forced his way over straight from a scrum to regain the lead for his side and Leeds never looked back.
Despite the Tigers' defeat, it was a good day for former York Wasps pair Jamie Benn and Rich Goddard who are both on trial with Castleford.
Full-back Benn was particularly impressive and kicked two goals. Goddard, playing at loose forward, scored one of two Tigers tries as they took a suprise early lead. Craig Wright grabbed the other.
The friendly hinged on the sin-binning of Castleford new boy Logan Campbell for a professional foul 11 minutes into the second half.
The Tigers, without 10 senior players, had fought back to lead 12-8 at half-time but once Campbell, their recent signing from Hull, was shown the yellow card after holding down Keith Senior in the tackle, they folded dramatically.
First Francis Cummins linked from full-back to grab the equalising try, Harris weaved his magic and then impressive front rower Barrie McDermott romped over for his side's fifth while Campbell was still in the sin bin.
Left winger Karl Pratt applied the finishing touches, racing 70 metres for his second try, and the win would have been even more impressive but for some wayward goalkicking.
Kevin Sinfield failed with all his three conversion attempts and even Harris was off form, missing two of his three kicks.
The Rhinos, who had an early touchdown from Leroy Rivett disallowed for a forward pass, led 8-0 after 28 minutes thanks to tries from Pratt and Chev Walker, two of 10 teenagers in the home ranks.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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