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 2nd victory of the Super League season.
An impressive 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 - as well as six kicks from Zak Hardaker - implied the Black and Whites took the two points.
Carbon-copy shots from James McDonnell and Brodie Croft within the area of 6 minutes pushed the Rhinos into a narrow half-time lead but Hull FC shut out their challengers after the break to run out worthy winners.
After Jake Connor kicked Leeds in front after five minutes, a beautiful line break from Hull's James Bell permitted him to unselfishly set up Arthur to dive below the sticks and rating against the side his dad coaches.
Leeds then kicked the restart out on the complete, for which Hull moved into Rhinos area, and elusive play from Amir Bourouh at dummy half permitted Ligi Sao to crash over from close variety for his very first Super League attempt in two years.
The Rhinos' discipline let them down when dissent towards referee Liam Moore made it possible for a kick within variety, and Hardaker added 2 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 discovered McDonnell on the relocation to dot down in front of the going to supporters.
A spectacular diving catch from Miller then continued a flowing relocation as McDonnell aimed to get a second shot in a couple of minutes, but he was stopped on the line by good scrambling 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 added the additionals ball game was level at 14-14.
An exceptional ankle-tap deal with from Cade Cust stopped Chris Hankinson in his tracks but after referee Moore had punished the hosts for a high deal with in the accumulation, Connor kicked Rhinos in front 2 minutes before the break from the best touchline.
Just 60 seconds after half-time, Leeds' Maika Sivo was punished for securing the marker and Hardaker slotted over to level the match once again.
And Hull edged themselves back in front minutes later on when Hardaker kicked a fifth goal in front of the sticks.
The home side extended their lead when John Asiata's beautiful grubber kick was collected on the bounce by Litten to dot down and Hardaker's sixth effective kick made it a two-score match.
With 5 minutes remaining, Connor kicked in an attempt to bring the match to within a transformed try - but the ball struck the upright and bounced to safety as the home side held on in front of more than 12,000 fans to claim victory.
'A bit of a reality-check' - post-match response
Hull FC employer John Cartwright told BBC Radio Humberside:
"They're a really harmful side to bet.
"So, bit nervous entering into the video game, but I understood that we well - there were a couple of hiccups throughout the week however we had a good session Thursday.
"Courage is a prerequisite in any game at this level. Sometimes, you need to show a bit more nerve than usual and I believed we did that today.
"Effort-wise and grit-wise, we competed well. We did the fundamentals a lot much better than we've been doing, and that's the structure of your video game. We need to do that nine times out of 10 now."
Leeds Rhinos boss Brad Arthur told BBC Radio Leeds:
"A little bit of a reality-check isn't it? Basically, we're not as great as we think we are. Some of that ill-discipline is not what I desire our club to be about and become part of.
"It was pretty humiliating, some of the discipline in the 2nd half. A lot of chaps just wish to talk about the referee rather of doing their own task. Not good enough.
"It's truly disappointed me. We need to get to the bottom of it [the ill-discipline] and find that out on Tuesday [when the gamers go back to training]
"What's changed? We went well in Vegas. So what? We require to accept some accountability and find a solution for 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
