Two sides with very different Magic Weekend experiences met
in a Round Eleven game to determine who would end the night in fourth spot, and
who would be sixth, as the Leeds Rhinos entertained Hull FC at Headingley.
The Rhinos came into the game on the back of a confidence
boosting win over St Helens in the Newcastle jamboree, while Hull FC were still
licking their wounds after being the first side to give league points to a
struggling Huddersfield Giants in 2025.
The bookies thought that the points would be going the
Rhinos way after giving them a twelve-point handicap on the coupon, if the
Airlie Birds could pull off a win, then it would be a shock to many, including
some of their own supporters.
There was little to choose between the sides in the opening
exchanges until Hull lost Jordan Rapana with an injury after he stayed down
after making a tackle on Jake Connor, the centre being helped from the field
after a long delay.
The game coasted through the twenty-minute mark with neither
side troubling the scorers, both sides guilty of making unforced errors.
On twenty-nine it was the visitors who took the lead after a
Ryan Hall knock on gave them possession on the Rhinos twenty, Will Pryce made
the space before putting Lewis Martin over in the corner. Aidan Sezer was well
wide with the conversion attempt.
Jarrod O’Connor spilled the ball on the line on thirty-three
when Leeds should have been back on level terms, great Hull defence forcing the
Leeds error.
On thirty-six Sam Ese’ese went over the Leeds line under a
pile of tacklers and grounded. Referee Smith consulted the video referee but he
could find no evidence to overrule the on-field decision of a try.
Scoring
under the sticks it was a simple Sezer conversion for a 10-0 lead to the black
and whites.
A Hull mistake on their own twenty let the Rhinos back into
the game, James McDonnell taking a short ball from Croft and going through a
gap to score from ten metres out. Lachie Miller was wide with the conversion,
the Rhinos six adrift at the break.
Great Hull defence forced a Leeds drop-out on forty-three
and a couple of tackles later the Airlie Birds moved the ball wide right with
finding space on the overlap and scoring in the corner. Sezer added the
conversion from the touchline, FC with a twelve-point margin.
Tom Holroyd celebrated his new contract at Leeds when he
took an O’Connor pass to crash over the line from ten metres despite the
attention of three Hull tacklers. Miller added the conversion, Leeds back in
the game.
Leeds ran the ball on the last on sixty-six, Riley Lumb
engineering an overlap down the left wing to slide over on his knees and
ground. It was a crucial kick for Miller and he pushed his attempt across the
face of the posts.
A Connor attempted 40-20 on seventy-five went out on the
full, the Southstand deflated.
There were just under two minutes left on the clock when
Leeds snatched the win. A great break from Ash Handley, pushing on an extra ten
metres with tacklers attached set up the field position and as the ball was
moved wide to Ryan Hall he managed to sneak through a gap and get the ball onto
the ground in the corner. Miller was
again wide with his conversion but there were just thirty second left on the
clock.
Leeds mopped up the short kick off and ran the clock down
for the victory to send them back onto fourth spot, a heartbroken Hull FC will
have to make do with ending the round in sixth. Leeds stuck with it and had the
belief that they could snatch the win, a successful captains challenge and the
cool and experience of Ryan Hall when it mattered. This was a much better Hull
performance and the loss at the last gap will hurt on the journey home and into
next week.
Leeds Rhinos: Miller (G 1/4), Hall (T), Newman, Handley, Lumb
(T), Connor, Croft, Oledzki, O’Connor, Palasia, Gannon, McDonnell (T), Watkins.
Subs: Holroyd (T), Lisone, Bentley, Smith. 18th Man: Jenkins.
Hull FC: Pryce, Barron (T), Rapana, Litten. Martin (T),
Cust, Sezer (G 2/3), Ese’ese (T), Bourouh, Knight, Hardaker, Chamberlain,
Asiata. Subs: Briscoe, Ashworth, Fash, Eseh. 18th Man: Balmforth.
Half-Time: 4-10.
Full-Time: 18-16.
Score Progression:0-4, 0-8, 0-10, 4-10 : HT: 4-14, 4-16, 8-16,
10-16, 14-16, 18-16 :FT.
Lead Exchanges: Hull - Leeds.
Referee: Jack Smith.
