PA Sport © PA Sporting Life Ltd 2001
London Broncos kept up the pressure for a top-five finish with a six-try demolition of Castleford Tigers at The Valley.
Broncos now trail fifth-placed Leeds by three points but have much the easier run-in and will fancy their chances of overcoming a misfiring Rhinos side.
The home side got off to a dream start when Greg Fleming touched down from Jim Dymock's kick through in just the first minute. Paul Sykes added the goal to earn a six-point lead.
Castleford got themselves back into the game but were unable to show anything for their efforts as the London defence held firm in the face of the onslaught.
London extended their lead on 20 minutes after regaining the momentum when Sykes kicked a penalty after Lee Harland was penalised.
And the hosts moved into a 14-0 lead five minutes before half-time with a stunning Glen Air try.
The Broncos' hooker rounded off a move that twice involved Steele Retchless, Mat Toshack and Sykes, who kicked his third goal of the evening.
The visitors came out for the second half with fresh determination and put their first points on the board after only two minutes when former Bronco Jon Roper broke the line and Jon Wells touched down in the corner.
Another line break, this time by Adrian Vowles, saw Castleford score again after 56 minutes.
The Tigers loose forward raced clear before looking inside when Mark Lennon was in support. Roper added the goal from in front of the posts.
Tigers' indiscretion at the play the ball allowed Sykes to break up the momentum of the visitor's come-back with a 35-metre penalty on 58 minutes.
From then on in it was all one way traffic as the Broncos ran in four unanswered tries.
The first came on 66 minutes when Air darted in from dummy half for his seventh try in the last five games. Sykes again was successful with his kick.
Roper gifted the Broncos their next try on 71 minutes when he lost the ball under pressure from Rob Parker and Sylvain Houles picked up before racing clear to the line.
Houles added his second five minutes later as he juggled the ball in the corner after great work by Parker and Sykes.
Broncos rubbed further salt into the wounds in the last minute when Michael Gillett touched down and Sykes kept up his 100% record with the boot.
By Ian Laybourn, PA Sport © PA Sporting Life Ltd 2001
Castleford produced a sparkling show to stun the world club champions in a magnificent match at The Jungle.
The Tigers emerged from their recent slump in superb fashion to gain only their second win in five matches and claim only their second victory over St Helens in 12 Super League meetings.
Star of the show was veteran half-back Mitch Healey, whose expert kicking tormented the visitors, but when he limped off after 54 minutes it was the signal for Saints to stage a trademark fightback.
And Castleford were forced to hang on in a nail biting finish, with both Tommy Martyn and Paul Sculthorpe losing the ball short of the line as they went for match-winning tries.
There was little hint of the drama to come when Saints raced into a 10-0 lead playing some typical adventurous football.
The champions had run up 218 points in their previous four games and they quickly got into their impressive stride, scoring two tries in the first nine minutes, one of them a spectacular effort involving all but three of their players.
A 40-metre solo break from hooker Keiron Cunningham set up the position for stand-off Martyn to work winger Sean Hoppe over for the first and then second-rower Peter Shiels started and finished a bewildering passage of play in which the ball went through no fewer than 10 pairs of hands.
Loose-forward Sculthorpe, who had contributed 94 points in his last four games, kicked one of the conversions as the visitors predictably led 10-0.
Castleford remained unfazed, however, and hit back in glorious fashion with four tries in 16 minutes to snatch a shock lead.
Left-winger Waine Pryce finished off a flowing move highlighted by a clever flick-on by skipper Adrian Vowles and scrum-half Mark Lennon broke clear to send second-rower Dale Fritz over.
Centre Jon Roper kicked one conversion to level the scores and the Tigers then rocked the world club champions with two further tries in four minutes, thanks largely to the impressive boot of Healey.
The veteran Australian got his side within striking range with a 40-20 kick and then darted over from the resulting scrum.
Just four minutes later Vowles followed suit after Saints full-back Anthony Stewart had knocked on five metres from his own line following Healey's towering kick.
Two further conversions from Roper gave the Tigers an unlikely, but thoroughly deserved 12-point interval lead as they left the field to a standing ovation.
Saints refused to curb their attacking instincts and they ought to have made more of a break by prop David Fairleigh, whose final pass to the supporting Martyn was clearly forward.
Although a series of handling errors continued to keep the Tigers in the driving seat, they suffered a major blow when king pin Healey limped off.
Saints piled on the pressure and, just as the ever-dangerous Cunningham appeared to have been stopped short, he reached out to plan the ball on the line for his side's third try, with Sculthorpe kicking his second goal.
But the gritty Yorkshiremen restored their 12-point lead within four minutes as outstanding forward Michael Smith produced a storming run to get Lee Harland over for a try and Roper kicked his fourth goal.
A 72nd-minute try from centre Kevin Iro cut the gap to two points, but Sculthorpe failed with the difficult conversion and Martyn lost the ball as he went for what would have been the match-winner.
PA Sport © PA Sporting Life Ltd 2001
Warrington centre Toa Kohe-Love notched a hat-trick of tries to dash Castleford's outside hopes of qualifying for the Super League play-offs.
Castleford trailed 14-12 midway through the second half and were well in contention until Kiwi Kohe-Love struck twice in seven minutes to seal the points for Warrington.
It was another gutsy effort by Warrington to give new boss Steve Anderson a winning start to his reign.
But there was bad news for the Wolves as they suffered another injury blow with winger Rob Smyth forced off in the first half with a serious shoulder injury.
Warrington took the lead after only eight minutes when scrum-half Gary Hulse side-stepped his way over and Lee Briers added the conversion.
Then Tawera Nikau and Steve McCurrie combined for Kohe-Love to notch his first try, juggling the ball before finally touching down. Briers added the conversion and a penalty to make it 14-0.
But then Jamie Rooney, making the debut after signing on loan from Featherstone Rovers punished Warrington for their ill-discipline by landing three penalties to cut the interval deficit to 14-6.
The Tigers made the start they wanted in the second half when Darren Rogers collected skipper Adrian Vowles long pass to go over in the corner and Rooney landed the touchline conversion.
Castleford would have drawn level if Rooney had succeeded with a penalty after a high tackle by Jerome Guissett on Nathan Sykes but his kick sailed wide.
Warrington stepped on the gas with Kohe-Love winning the race to Briers kick in the 56th minute. Then Kohe-Love completed his hat-trick with Briers' two conversions stretching the lead to 26-12.
The outstanding Briers then coolly dropped a goal in the 68th minute to open up a 27-12 lead.
By Ian Laybourn, PA Sport © PA Sporting Life Ltd 2001
Leeds came from behind to snatch the points that keep them on course for the Super League play-offs.
Castleford were heading for a sixth successive home win when they led 10-2 early in the second half but the Rhinos struck twice in three minutes just after the hour mark to claim only their second victory in eight Super League clashes at the Jungle.
Stand-off Karl Pratt, the natural successor to the departed Iestyn Harris, was the hero, scoring the try that brought the scores level and setting up the decisive score for winger Mark Calderwood.
Leeds, desperate for the points to stave off the challenge of London Broncos, just about deserved their win but it took them an hour to overcome their gritty hosts in a defence-dominated derby.
Castleford were without inspirational captain Adrian Vowles, the 1999 Man of Steel who is thought to be set to join Leeds, but they thoroughly deserved their four-point half-time lead after looking the more lively of two sides.
They carved out a clear-cut tryscoring opportunity as early as the sixth minute when loose forward Lee Harland sliced through a gap in the visitors' defence only for winger Darren Rogers to lose the ball in the last-ditch tackle of full-back Francis Cummins.
Leeds loose forward Kevin Sinfield opened the scoring with a 13th-minute penalty and stand-off Karl Pratt clearly anticipated a close game when he attempted a drop goal, which went wide.
Leeds could make little use of five successive penalty awards, despite the sterling efforts of hooker Robbie Mears and veteran forward Gary Mercer, on his return to the club, although they had a try disallowed when the video referee ruled a knock-on by Sinfield before Cummins touched down.
It was no surprise when Castleford scored the only try of half when centre Michael Eagar took Lennon's long pass to cut through a rare gap and touch down.
After the struggles of the first 40 minutes, the game burst into life at the start of the second half, with two tries in four minutes.
First Castleford winger Jon Wells stretched his side's lead to 10-2 with a clinical finish at the corner after Dale Fritz and Jon Roper had moved the ball wide.
Leeds then cancelled that out with centre Keith Senior powering through for a well-taken try after taking a pass from Sinfield, who made a hash of the conversion attempt to leave his side trailing by four points.
The Rhinos almost drew level when scrum-half Ryan Sheridan broke out of his own half but winger Mark Calderwood juggled with the final pass and that gave full-back Jason Flowers time to make the tackle.
But they regained the lead on 63 minutes when Pratt took Sheridan's pass close to the line and spun out of Darren Shaw's tackle to touch down for a try that Sinfield converted.
And just two minutes later Calderwood grabbed the vital touch after Flowers was able to only partially clear Pratt's grubber kick.
Captain Cummins then put the seal on a fine comeback with a 78th-minute drop goal.
PA Sport © PA Sporting Life Ltd 2001
Super League leaders Bradford Bulls reopened a two-point gap over second-placed Wigan before next Friday's big clash at the JJB Stadium - but only after being given a second half run-around by mid-table Castleford.
The depleted Tigers, lacking such key men as half-backs Danny Orr and Mitch Healey and Leeds-bound skipper Adrian Vowles, trailed 38-2 at half-time and it had been a virtual stroll for the Bulls.
But it was a different story after the break as the Tigers ran in 22 points in a dazzling 13-minute spell which had the Bulls panicking.
An early break by scrum-half Robbie Paul sent the tone for the Bulls in the first half and their leading try-scorer Tevita Vaikona was soon crossing for his 24th try of the season.
As Bradford continued to dominate, Paul crossed after a neat interchange with giant prop Paul Anderson and then hooker James Lowes dummied his way over from close range.
With Henry Paul landing four goals from five attempts it was 20-2 after 22 minutes with Castleford's only reply being a penalty goal from scrum-half Jamie Rooney, on loan from Featherstone.
Castleford's plight worsened after 25 minutes when centre Jon Wells was sin-binned after referee Steve Ganson finally lost patience over play-the-ball offences.
And the Bulls took full advantage of the extra man to add two tries in his absence through Daniel Gartner and full-back Mike Withers.
Withers then had a second easy try after 38 minutes following a neat back-pass from Henry Paul who took his goal tally to seven from eight attempts to establish a 38-2 advantage.
After the interval, Cas had some reward with a try from forward Lee Harland which Rooney converted but within two minutes of the resumption Withers was crossing for his hat-trick try.
Perhaps with one eye on the Wigan clash, the Bulls then rested Withers and Henry Paul and as they appeared to relax, Cas took full advantage with some spirited attacking play.
Substitute Wayne Godwin started the comeback, then Harland scooted over for his second try before big forward Mike Smith powered his way over to remind the Bulls they were still in a contest.
With Smith and full-back Mark Lennon in inspirational form Cas continued to cause all sorts of problems and emergency stand-off Jon Roper, who had converted all three second-half tries, then shot through a ragged Bulls defence for a 40 metre touchdown to narrow the gap to 44-30 after 68 minutes.
Bradford, now in some disarray, brought Henry Paul back into the action but he did little to calm the nerves by shooting wide with a drop goal attempt.
Paul Deacon, however, found the composure to re-establish the Bulls' advantage by darting through for a try and laying on another for substitute Nathan McAvoy.
Henry Paul added two goals to give the Bulls what was in the end a rather flattering win.
Teams:
Bradford: Withers, Vaikona, Mackay, Gilmour, Pryce, H. Paul, R. Paul, Anderson, Lowes, McDermott, Gartner, Peacock, Forshaw.
Substitutes: Deacon, Rigon, Fielden, McAvoy.
Tries: Vaikona, R. Paul, Lowes, Gartner, Withers 3, Deacon, McAvoy.
Goals: H. Paul 9, Deacon.
Castleford: Lennon, Gay, Wells, Eagar, Rogers, Roper, Rooney, Lynch, Shaw, Sampson, Smith, Fritz, Harland.
Substitutes: Pryce, Charles, Flowers, Godwin.
Tries: Harland 2, Godwin, Smith, Roper.
Goals: Rooney 2, Roper 3.
Att: 10,469
Ref: Steve Ganson (St Helens)