Hull FC Edge Out Leeds In Yorkshire Derby Thriller

ByMatthew Cresswell
BBC Sport England


22 March 2026


206 Comments


Hull FC (14) 24


Tries: Arthur, Sao, Litten Goals: Hardaker 6


Leeds (16) 16


Tries: McDonnell, Croft Goals: Connor 4


Hull FC edged out Leeds Rhinos in a pulsating Yorkshire derby to claim their second victory of the Super League season.


An exceptional very first 40 minutes offered 30 points as both sides took it in turns to take the lead.


Tries from Jake Arthur, Ligi Sao and Davy Litten - in addition to 6 kicks from Zak Hardaker - indicated the Black and Whites took the two points.


Carbon-copy shots from James McDonnell and Brodie Croft within the space of six minutes pushed the Rhinos into a narrow half-time lead however Hull FC shut out their challengers after the break to go out worthy winners.


After Jake Connor kicked Leeds in front after five minutes, a gorgeous line break from Hull's James Bell allowed him to unselfishly set up Arthur to dive beneath the sticks and score versus the side his daddy coaches.


Leeds then kicked the restart out on the complete, for which Hull moved into Rhinos territory, and elusive play from Amir Bourouh at dummy half allowed Ligi Sao to crash over from close range for his very first Super League try in 2 years.


The Rhinos' discipline let them down when dissent towards referee Liam Moore allowed a kick within range, and Hardaker added two more points as the visitors' deficit increased to 12 points after simply 17 minutes.


But Rhinos were back in the contest eight minutes later on when an inch-perfect kick from Lachie Miller found McDonnell on the move to dot down in front of the visiting supporters.


A stunning diving catch from Miller then continued a streaming move as McDonnell wanted to get a second shot in a couple of minutes, but he was stopped on the line by great rushing defence from Hull.


Another fragile kick - this time from Ash Handley - then discovered Croft in area to dot down beside the sticks, and by the time Connor had actually included the additionals ball game was level at 14-14.


An excellent ankle-tap take on from Cade Cust stopped Chris Hankinson in his tracks but after referee Moore had actually punished the hosts for a high take on in the build-up, Connor kicked Rhinos in front two minutes before the break from the best touchline.


Just one minute after half-time, Leeds' Maika Sivo was penalised for getting the marker and Hardaker slotted over to level the match again.


And Hull edged themselves back in front minutes later on when Hardaker kicked a fifth objective in front of the sticks.


The home side extended their lead when John Asiata's beautiful grubber kick was gathered on the bounce by Litten to dot down and Hardaker's 6th effective kick made it a two-score match.


With five minutes staying, Connor started an attempt to bring the match to within a try - but the ball struck the upright and bounced to security as the home side hung on in front of more than 12,000 fans to claim victory.


'A little a reality-check' - post-match response


Hull FC employer John Cartwright informed BBC Radio Humberside:


"They're a really hazardous side to play against.


"So, bit nervous entering into the game, but I knew that we prepared well - there were a couple of hiccups throughout the week but we had a good session Thursday.


"Courage is a requirement in any video game at this level. Sometimes, you need to reveal a bit more guts than typical and I thought we did that today.


"Effort-wise and grit-wise, we completed well. We did the fundamentals a lot much better than we have actually been doing, and that's the structure of your video game. We have to do that 9 times out of 10 now."


Leeds Rhinos boss Brad Arthur informed BBC Radio Leeds:


"A little bit of a reality-check isn't it? Basically, we're not as good as we believe we are. A few of that ill-discipline is not what I desire our club to be about and belong to.


"It was quite embarrassing, some of the discipline in the second half. A lot of blokes simply wish to talk about the referee instead of doing their own job. Not great enough.


"It's really disappointed me. We need to get to the bottom of it [the ill-discipline] and find that out on Tuesday [when the players go back to training]


"What's altered? We worked out in Vegas. So what? We require to accept some responsibility and do something about it."


Hull FC: Hardaker; Briscoe, Romano, Litten, Martin; Cust, Arthur; Hill, Bourouh, Sao, Bell, Bailey, Asiata.


Interchanges: C Kemp, Fash, Laidlaw, Lisone.


Leeds: Miller; Sivo, Newman, Handley, Hankinson; Croft, Connor; Oledzki, Levi, Palasia, Watkins, McDonnell, C. Smith.


Interchanges: Holroyd, Jenkins, O'Connor, Bird.


Referee: Liam Moore.


Hull FC


Leeds Rhinos