The much heralded return of Danny McGuire was thwarted by his failing a late fitness test but the Rhinos did welcome back Ablett, Delaney and Moon as changes to the side that lost to Wigan last weekend.

Saints were slight underdogs with the bookies, but with a win of any margin enough to see them up into third ahead of the Warriors, going into Good Friday’s derby there was plenty of motivation for the Red Vee to get the two points.

Leeds were desperate for the two points to avoid slipping further behind the leading pack.

The Rhinos opened the scoring with just two minutes on the clock when Jamie Jones-Buchanan was in the right place at the right time to cross off a Keith Galloway wonder-offload after great work down the right wing from Ash Handley who collected a Saints kick through and returned it with interest. Liam Sutcliffe added the extras.

Only three more minutes had passed before the Rhinos were in again, this time with Adam Cuthbertson crashing over under the sticks after Saints had put the kick-off out on the full. Sutcliffe again added the two and the Rhinos were 12-0 up in the opening five minutes.

On ten it was eighteen-nil as Leeds capitalised on a Saints mistake. Kyle Amor kicked a loose pass forward straight into the arms of Liam Sutcliffe who went thirty metres on the angle to score by the uprights. He failed to tag on the two points but it was a dream Rhinos start.

Saints hit back with two converted tries in four minutes. On sixteen the Saints got their first of the evening when Kyle Amor benefitted from good pressure when he took a pass from Luke Walsh to dance past the Leeds tacklers and score by the posts giving Walsh a simple conversion. On twenty Luke Walsh found a gap in the Rhinos defence after Watkins had spilled a pass and gifted the Saints possession. Walsh kicked the extras for 16-12.

Three minutes from the interval and the Saints hit the front. A Walsh kick forced a dropout and then the Saints centre turned provider as he put Louis McCarthy-Scarsbrook through a gap to jink through the Leeds defence to score. Walsh added the extras to take his side into an 18-16 lead, turning around a sixteen point deficit.

But Leeds weren’t giving up and eight seconds before the half-time hooter Carl Ablett muscled his way through the Saints defence to dive over under the posts. Sutcliffe kicked the two and the Rhinos took a 22-18 lead into the half-time interval.

After a scrappy start to the first half, where both sides could have scored but for great last ditch defensive efforts, the Rhinos got the first score of the second half on fifty three when a Beau Falloon grubber was chased and grounded by Ash Handley. Liam Sutcliffe kept his cool and kicked from the touchline for a ten point Leeds lead.

When John Wilkin was offside with ten left to the hooter, the Rhinos took the two points on offer from the penalty as Sutcliffe slotted the ball over the bar for a twelve point lead.

McCarthy-Scarsbrook was sin-binned with twenty seconds left on the clock for a professional foul after Leeds broke downfield in open play but it made no difference to the outcome.

This was a bizarre and messy game which will leave both teams coaches scratching their heads as to what happened to their respective game plans. There were moments of brilliance from both sides in both defence and attack but also some periods of play which resembled something you’d be more likely to see on the local recreation ground on a Saturday afternoon.

Both sides still have a lot to do to get into the position where they can compete with the season’s high flyers but Leeds will end the night the happiest with the two points and their second win of the season.

Rhinos: Hardaker, Handley (T), Watkins, Moon, Hall, Sutcliffe (T, 5G), Burrow, Galloway, Falloon, Cuthbertson (T), Ablett (T), Ferres, Jones-Buchanan (T). Subs:Lilley, Walters, Delaney, Mullally.

Saints: McDonnell, Makinson, Peyroux, Dawson, Owens, Turner, Walsh (T, 3G), Walmsley, Roby, Amor (T), Vea, Greenwood, Wilkin. Subs: McCarthy-Scarsbrook (T), Tasi, Richards, Thompson.

Referee: Ben Thaler

Attendance: 17,131