Super League round-up: Castleford beat Leeds in Magic Weekend finale

Greg Eden registered a hat-trick of tries for the second time against Leeds this season as Castleford closed the Dacia Magic Weekend with a stylish second-half performance.

With the scores level at 6-6 after an evenly poised opening 40 minutes, Eden crossed twice in the space of three second-half minutes to ultimately swing the contest firmly in Castleford's favour.

Having also bagged a treble when the teams met earlier this season, Eden crossed once more to put the finishing touches on a 29-18 victory, one that moves the Tigers two points clear at the top of the Betfred Super League.

The prolific winger took his tally to a league-best 18 tries for the season, while this effort was his second hat-trick in the space of nine days, having also touched down three times in a 53-10 win over St Helens in the Challenge Cup last week.

The league leaders had also routed Leeds 66-10 at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle in March but found the Rhinos a much tougher opponent at St James' Park, where the total attendance for the weekend was revealed to be 65,407, the third highest in 11 stagings of the event.

Leeds had won seven times in nine Super League matches since that humbling and they at least proved their mettle in a frenetic end-to-end opening half, while late tries from Joel Moon and Liam Sutcliffe kept the scoreline respectable.

Salford condemned 12-man Leigh to an eighth successive Betfred Super League defeat with a 36-22 victory that enabled them to climb into second place.

Second rower Ben Murdoch-Masila continued his rich vein of form with two tries, taking his tally for the year to 10 in just nine appearances, as the Red Devils eased to an eighth win from their last nine matches.

It was a Magic Weekend debut to forget for Leigh winger Adam Higson who became the seventh player to be sent off in the event for a high tackle on Salford full-back Gareth O'Brien.

That came at a crucial time in the match, with Salford clinging to a 24-18 lead, and proved costly for the Centurions, who are in danger of being cut adrift in the bottom two.

Yet Leigh were good value for their early 12-6 lead set up by tries from centre Matty Fleming, who was making his debut after joining the club on loan from St Helens, and full-back Mitch Brown, both converted by Josh Drinkwater.

Murdoch-Masila demonstrated the threat he poses when close to the line as he forced his way over for his first try in the ninth minute and took stand-off Robert Lui's short pass to go through a gap for his second midway through the first half that levelled the scores.

The Centurions played with plenty of spirit but could not match the cutting edge of their opponents, who scored two more tries in an eight-minute spell to establish a hold on the game.

Huddersfield claimed only their fourth win of the Betfred Super League season after overcoming Catalans Dragons 18-10 in an encounter that will not linger long in the memory.

The second day of the Dacia Magic Weekend at St James' Park began with a whimper, but it was Huddersfield who prevailed as they handed Catalans a fifth consecutive defeat.

Trailing 10-6 following tries from Richie Myler and Iain Thornley with only eight minutes remaining, the Giants went ahead when Sam Rapira powered over before Adam O'Brien's score ensured there was no way back for Catalans.

It was a vital win for Rick Stone's men, for while they remain 10th in the standings they are now only a point behind the Dragons - defeat would have left them marooned in the bottom three.

Catalans led for much of the match but were denied three tries by the video referee and their inability to take the game by the scruff of the neck came back to haunt them.