For the third time this season, and with honours even, the Rhinos and the Wildcats came together for a local derby.

Headingley was the stage for one of these sides to shine in front of the SKY cameras, but what we didn't expect was a downpour approaching biblical proportions which would give us a spectacle more akin to hunt the soap in a jacuzzi full of bubble bath.

In the end we got the points, but it was far from pretty.

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With Webb back in the squad it was down to Bluey to find some innovative way to shoehorn last weeks cup hero Lee Smith into the side. Thinking outside the box he decided to rest Ryan Bailey, start Lee in the centres and put Keith on the bench to cover the pack. Burgess was the other forward to miss out as Jay Pitts got a start, and Ian Kirke was promoted to the front row as Peacock saw his mates start the game from the bench.

The 'finger tapping' 'Cats coach elected not to play his new signing Leaeno either deciding that he wasn't fit enough, or not wanting to risk him against the Rhinos. Nontheless a strange decision.

The game started in the dry, although dark skies brought premature night, and the floodlights were required from the kick-off. It was instantly evident that Wakefield were going to try and blitz us early on, and it took them just ninety seconds to cross the whitewash.

Leeds had been penalised for holding down and on the fourth tackle Morrison went through a gap left by McGuire and dove over the line. Cooke kicked the two. On eight minutes the visitors extended their lead and sent the visiting fans into rapture. Obst put through bobbling kick on the last which outsmarted both Webb and Hall before being picked up by the kicker and run over the line unopposed. Cookes extras saw us 12-0 behind, not the start we had expected.

The General

On twelve we were back in it thanks to good pressure on the Wildcats line and bad discipline from the 'Cats defence. Three back-to-back penalties got Leeds camped on the line before Sinfield spotted a gap and went close only to offload inside to McGuire who stepped over and improved the angle to make the skippers conversion a formality for 6-12. And then the heavens opened for a torrential downpour.

The next ten minutes saw a series of handling errors from both sides and I'd be surprised if either side completed three tackles with the ball let alone a set of six. With rain still falling on twenty-six the Rhinos managed to get over and level the score.

JJB and Ablett combined in a nice wraparound move which saw JJB drop over the line. Sinfields goal slipped over and we were 12-12. The Wildcats onslaught had been withstood and we were back on level terms.

On the half-hour McGuire was penalised for a ball steal in his own twenty and Cooke kicked the two to regain the lead but the visitors couldn't hold it until half time. A suicidal pass from Gleeson to touch on their own thirty gave Leeds good posession and with just seconds left on the clock Leeds moved the ball right and Webb threw a great missout pass which gave Donald a clear run into the corner. Sinfield goaled superby from the touchline for a four point half-time Rhinos lead at 18-14.

It took ten minutes of the second half for the first score, and once again it was Leeds indiscipline in the form of a ball steal which opened the door. The 'Cats used a couple of tackles to get into position before Murphy went through a weak Leeds defence. Cooke missed the conversion but once again we were all square, this time at 18-18.

The deadlock remained for twenty-two minutes, minutes which the Rhinos dominated but were unable to convert into points. On seventy-two Smith tried a kick through in broken play and as he chased his kick he was dragged down by Morrison, and took full advantage to milk the opportunity. The referee awarded the penalty and yellow carded the offending Morrison, the game had turned on one Smith chip. Sinfield kicked the goal to re-take the lead and now we were up against twelve for the remainder of the game.

Big Game

On seventy-five Leeds looked to have wrapped it up when Sinfield found a gap and went close before finding Buderus in support who crossed. Sinfields conversion gave us an eight point margin with five minutes remaining, but the Wildcats were not finished.

On seventy-seven Leeds knocked the ball free in a tackle on their own line and in the melee which followed Demetriou picked up a loose ball and dived over. The video referee had a good look but rather than rule what appeared to be a clear knock-on he awarded the try, perhaps 'Alibert' disease is contageous?

Cooke missed the goal so the Rhinos still had a four point lead.

With seconds remaining Leeds got a penalty for a high tackle and Sinfield took the opportunity to run the clock out and kick a two-pointer from thirty metres out for a winning score of 28-22.

This was far from pretty and a game marred by over a dozen shocking handling errors. Leeds had plenty of chances but bombed them time after time and on the defensive side some of it left a lot to be desired.

There were some massive hits and Leuluai and Peacock would probably be singled out as two of those making them but this was far from a vintage Leeds performance. It is, however, two points in the bag and at the moment we will take those any way that we can.