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 declare their second victory of the Super League season.
An exceptional 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 six kicks from Zak Hardaker - suggested the Black and Whites took the 2 points.
Carbon-copy tries from James McDonnell and Brodie Croft within the space of 6 minutes pushed the Rhinos into a narrow half-time lead but Hull FC shut out their opponents after the break to run out .
After Jake Connor kicked Leeds in front after five minutes, a stunning line break from Hull's James Bell permitted him to unselfishly set up Arthur to dive below the sticks and rating versus the side his dad coaches.
Leeds then kicked the reboot out on the complete, for which Hull moved into Rhinos area, and evasive play from Amir Bourouh at dummy half permitted Ligi Sao to crash over from close quarters for his first Super League try in 2 years.
The Rhinos' discipline let them down when dissent towards referee Liam Moore enabled a kick within range, and Hardaker added two more points as the visitors' deficit increased to 12 points after just 17 minutes.
But Rhinos were back in the contest 8 minutes later on when an inch-perfect kick from Lachie Miller discovered McDonnell on the relocation to dot down in front of the checking out advocates.
A stunning diving catch from Miller then continued a flowing relocation as McDonnell sought to get a 2nd try in a couple of minutes, but he was stopped on the line by good rushing defence from Hull.
Another fragile kick - this time from Ash Handley - then found Croft in area to dot down beside the sticks, and by the time Connor had actually included the extras ball game was level at 14-14.
An exceptional ankle-tap take on from Cade Cust stopped Chris Hankinson in his tracks however after referee Moore had penalised the hosts for a high take on in the accumulation, Connor kicked Rhinos in front 2 minutes before the break from the best touchline.
Just one minute after half-time, Leeds' Maika Sivo was punished for taking out 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 5th objective in front of the sticks.
The home side extended their lead when John Asiata's stunning grubber kick was collected on the bounce by Litten to dot down and Hardaker's 6th effective kick made it a two-score match.
With 5 minutes remaining, Connor started 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 hung on in front of more than 12,000 fans to claim success.
'A bit of a reality-check' - post-match reaction
Hull FC boss John Cartwright told BBC Radio Humberside:
"They're a truly hazardous side to play against.
"So, bit nervous entering into the game, however I understood that we prepared well - there were a couple of missteps during the week but we had an excellent session Thursday.
"Courage is a requirement in any game at this level. Sometimes, you need to reveal a bit more nerve than typical and I thought we did that today.
"Effort-wise and grit-wise, we contended 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 informed BBC Radio Leeds:
"A bit of a reality-check isn't it? Basically, we're not as excellent as we believe we are. A few of that ill-discipline is not what I want our club to be about and belong to.
"It was pretty awkward, some of the discipline in the second half. A great deal of chaps simply wish to discuss the referee instead of doing their own job. Unsatisfactory.
"It's really disappointed me. We need to get to the bottom of it [the ill-discipline] and discover that out on Tuesday [when the gamers go back to training]
"What's altered? We worked out 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