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 outstanding very first 40 minutes provided 30 points as both sides took it in turns to take the lead.
Tries from Jake Arthur, Ligi Sao and Davy Litten - along with six kicks from Zak Hardaker - meant the Black and Whites took the two points.
Carbon-copy shots from James McDonnell and Brodie Croft within the area of 6 minutes nudged the Rhinos into a narrow half-time lead but Hull FC shut out their opponents after the break to run out worthy winners.
After Jake Connor kicked Leeds in front after five minutes, a lovely line break from Hull's James Bell enabled him to unselfishly established Arthur to dive underneath the sticks and the side his dad 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 enabled Ligi Sao to crash over from close variety for his 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 included 2 more points as the visitors' deficit increased to 12 points after simply 17 minutes.
But Rhinos were back in the contest 8 minutes later on when an inch-perfect kick from Lachie Miller found McDonnell on the move to dot down in front of the visiting fans.
A spectacular diving catch from Miller then continued a streaming relocation as McDonnell looked to get a second shot in a few minutes, but he was stopped on the line by excellent scrambling defence from Hull.
Another fragile kick - this time from Ash Handley - then found Croft in space to dot down next to the sticks, and by the time Connor had actually included the additionals ball game was level at 14-14.
An exceptional ankle-tap tackle from Cade Cust stopped Chris Hankinson in his tracks but after referee Moore had penalised the hosts for a high take on in the accumulation, Connor kicked Rhinos in front two minutes before the break from the ideal touchline.
Just one minute after half-time, Leeds' Maika Sivo was penalised for getting the marker and Hardaker slotted over to level the match once more.
And Hull edged themselves back in front moments later 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 gathered on the bounce by Litten to dot down and Hardaker's 6th successful kick made it a two-score match.
With five minutes remaining, Connor started an effort to bring the match to within a converted shot - but the ball struck the upright and bounced to security as the home side held on in front of more than 12,000 fans to declare triumph.
'A bit of a reality-check' - post-match reaction
Hull FC manager John Cartwright told BBC Radio Humberside:
"They're a really unsafe side to play versus.
"So, bit worried going into the video game, but I understood that we prepared well - there were a few missteps during the week but we had an excellent session Thursday.
"Courage is a prerequisite in any video game at this level. Sometimes, you need to show a bit more courage than normal and I believed we did that today.
"Effort-wise and grit-wise, we completed well. We did the essentials a lot much better than we've been doing, and that's the foundation of your video game. We have to do that nine times out of 10 now."
Leeds Rhinos employer Brad Arthur told BBC Radio Leeds:
"A bit of a reality-check isn't it? Basically, we're not as good as we think we are. A few of that ill-discipline is not what I want our club to be about and become part of.
"It was pretty awkward, a few of the discipline in the second half. A lot of blokes just wish to talk about the referee instead of doing their own job. Not good enough.
"It's truly disappointed me. We require 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 changed? We worked out in Vegas. So what? We require to accept some accountability 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