LEIGH Leopards head coach Adrian Lam paid tribute to two-try winger Josh Charnley after his in-form side’s 20-10 Betfred Super League win at Castleford.

Charnley touched down in either half to take his tally this season to 14 and after Leigh had chalked up their fourth straight win Lam said there was no better winger in the top flight.

Lam, whose side have climbed to within three points of sixth-placed St Helens, said: “He’s a beast. He’s as good as there is in this game.”

Charnley could have had a hat-trick if he had not spilled the ball when racing over in the first half, while Lam was frustrated his side let slip several other try-scoring chances.

“He’s as good as he’s ever been in Super League,” Lam said. “He wasn’t good when he dropped the ball with the (try) line open, I’ll admit that.

“I don’t know what he was thinking there. I think the game was close towards the end, but we bombed three tries. You can’t do that.

“That’s the only disappointment for me. We created the space and just dropped the ball clean. Why is that? So I’ve got a problem with that.”

Next up for the Leopards is a trip to third-placed Wigan for a rescheduled fixture on Tuesday.

Lam said: “Wigan’s just another game in what’s left of the season, but it’s going to be a massive one for us.

“It’s about our attitude, just to maintain the confidence and trust we’ve had over the last month.”

Leigh fell behind to Castleford teenager Fletcher Rooney’s early try on his home debut, but the visitors hit back through Zak Hardaker’s touch down against his former club and Charnley’s first score to lead 8-4 at the break.

Edwin Ipape raced 80 metres unopposed after gathering his charge down from Jacob Miller’s kick for a vital score early in the second half.

That was moments after Castleford full-back Tex Hoy was adjudged not to have grounded the ball when he went over and after Charnley struck again for a converted score, Joe Westerman’s effort for the Tigers came too late.

Castleford head coach Craig Lingard was pleased his side did not fold after Ipape’s converted try put them 12-4 behind, moments after Hoy’s disallowed effort.

Lingard said: “It was a turning point. It’s a big swing where we should be scoring that try and kicking the goal to potentially go in front.

“But 40 seconds later we were stood behind the posts 10 points down as opposed to two points up.

“It was a big momentum swing and a big points swing as well.”