A last-gasp Kevin Sinfield penalty denied Castleford a deserved draw in a rain-lashed engage Super League thriller.

The scores were level when Michael Shenton was penalised for offside in front of the posts with five seconds remaining and Sinfield made no mistake.

Moments earlier Shenton had thought he had secured a point as Castleford hit back from 16-0 and 22-16 down to level in a scrappy but exciting encounter.

Leeds, looking to make amends for last year's shock loss at The Jungle, defied a thunderstorm to race ahead with early tries from Rob Burrow, Danny McGuire and Ryan Hall.

But with mistakes aplenty from both sides, the Tigers hit back to through Stuart Jones, Kirk Dixon and Rangi Chase.

A second try from McGuire put Leeds back in front but Shenton pounced on a loose ball to set up the tense finale.

There were patches of sunlight as the players warmed up but the kick-off was greeted by a huge crack of thunder and a sudden downpour.

Within minutes there were puddles on the pitch and handling conditions were extremely difficult.

The Tigers pressed in the opening minute and a Brent Sherwin kick forced a drop-out but Leeds quickly regrouped and snatched the lead after five minutes.

Burrow jinked his way through two tackles to gain a sight of the line and beat the defence to slide over and score despite losing his footing.

McGuire doubled the advantage moments later after Ryan McGoldrick lost the ball in a tackle from Jamie Peacock.

The stand-off scooped up the loose ball and raced over under the posts and Sinfield, having already converted Burrow's score, again added the extras.

Leeds suffered a double blow as Burrow and Scott Donald were forced off injured but a swift break yielded a third try inside the opening 11 minutes.

The visitors made light of the conditions as they spread the ball along the line and Keith Senior's smart inside pass allowed Hall to cut in from the wing and touch down.

Yet from a position of supremacy, Leeds slipped up as Hall turned villain by spilling the ball close to his own line.

Jones was the quickest to react and delicately kicked forward for an opportunist try.

Leeds thought they had hit back immediately as McGuire kicked through for Danny Buderus but the video referee ruled offside.

The Tigers pushed again and were rewarded for a strong spell of possession as Dixon slid over in the corner to touch down a Chase kick.

Cas levelled the match within four minutes of the restart following another Leeds handling error.

Carl Ablett had little chance of taking Luke Burgess's ambitious pass and Chase took full advantage by creating a gap with a superb dummy and splashing his way to the line.

Dixon added his second goal but Leeds stirred and forced themselves back ahead after a sustained spell of pressure.

McGuire's second try, however, owed a great deal to fortune as the stand-off's kick took a lucky deflection off Sione Faumuina and rolled invitingly for him to score.

Sinfield added his third goal but the Tigers hit back to level again 12 minutes from time.

Brent Webb slipped as he attempted to catch a towering Sherwin kick and Lee Smith was also unable to gather.

The onrushing Shenton made no mistake as he dived on the loose the ball for a try converted by Dixon.

Cas could have taken the lead for the first time from the restart as Brett Ferres broke the line but he was unable to find Jones with his pass.

As time ticked away both sides attempted drop goals, Sinfield having an attempt from halfway charged down and Sherwin missing the target.

A draw looked the likely outcome until a late McGuire kick caused chaos and Shenton was penalised after Sherwin lost the ball.