A game of two halves for Hull FC.
Hull FC prop Harvie Hill.(Image: SW PIX)
Talk about a game of two halves. Hull FC in the first half? Pathetic. Hull FC in the second half? Much better.
Ultimately, it was all in vain, with Leigh Leopards running out 32-22 winners at the MKM Stadium, but for the Black and Whites, and with a Hull derby match looming on Thursday night, there’s certainly something to salvage from the game and take into next week.
It didn’t look that way at half-time. Hull were genuinely awful in the first half, their worst half of the season to date, with Leigh building up a strong 28-0 lead.
In truth, the Leythers completely dominated Hull in the first 40 minutes, taking them to the cleaners. The away side were much the better side, continuing their own play-off push and putting Hull KR out of the top six positions.
On that front, Hull remain one spot above the wooden spoon, but they can take something out of their second-half comeback. After a rudderless first half, they threw the kitchen sink at Leigh in the second. They played fast, with shape, and direct and got their reward.
It wasn’t quite enough to secure a win, as Leigh cemented their victory late in the game, but the team’s performance significantly changed the mood from the gloomy atmosphere at half-time. It’s still not acceptable, far from it, but there’s optimism again now rather than dreading a final meeting of the old enemy this year, and given the feeling at half-time, that’s something in itself.
In the first half, Hull were sloppy and got what they deserved. They gave away countless penalties and Leigh soon took the invitation, building up a massive lead. They soon began to get on top of Hull, and it didn’t take them long to open the scoring, although there may have been an element of fortune about it, with the ball coming loose after Davy Litten got into Umyla Hanley. But Josh Charnley picked up the pieces in a clean run to the line and from then on it was one-way traffic.
Hull’s discipline continued to shoot themselves in the foot and any opportunity they got with the ball, they soon squandered. On the contrary, Leigh were clinical, with Adam Cook kicking through the FC line and, after getting a favourable bounce, going over to score.
Quality then told, with David Armstrong playing in the centre, chiming into the attacking line to touch down out wide off a scrum play. The Australian then hit a strong line off Lachlan Lam to score his second try on the last tackle with Hanley on the end of an inside pass to add another before the interval.
That put Leigh 28-0 to the good at half-time, with Hull giving their best attempt to salvage something from the game after the break. They got on the board first with Harvey Barron finishing out wide after a well-executed scrum play, and things looked interesting as Cade Cust combined with Aidan Sezer to score another try.
It was then game on as Lennon Clark scored his first senior try for the club, collecting Jake Arthur’s crossfield kick to take the game within 12 points.
Hull then went for the line again, breaking through Sezer, but the support was taken out by Owen Trout, who was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul. Unfortunately, FC couldn’t strike on that set, and not in the ten-minute period where it mattered most.
Instead, Cook stepped up to seemingly seal the game, first delivering a peach of a 40/20 before executing a delicious cut-out pass for Charnley to score. But Hull weren’t done. They got the ball back from the kick-off, and on the last tackle, Hardaker took Sezer’s kick before offloading to Barron to score.
Hull rolled the dice one more time, but the comeback was ended after a wayward ruck pass from Cust brought an error. Leigh were able to see the remaining two minutes out, but what a scare they were given.
For Hull now, whose first half account was again shocking, it’s about bottling that second-half performance up – and taking it into the derby. Do that, and they will be in the contest. But turn up like they did in the first – and it will be a long, long night. Bring it on.
Teams
Hull Starting XIII: 24. Logan Moy; 2. Harvey Barron, 4. Zak Hardaker, 3. Davy Litten, 19. Tom Briscoe; 6. Jake Arthur, 7. Aidan Sezer; 26. Hugo Salabio, 9. Amir Bourouh, 10. Harvie Hill; 11. Joe Batchelor, 39. Ethan O’Neill; 15. James Bell.
Interchange: 8. Herman Ese’ese, 14. Cade Cust, 20. Yusuf Aydin, 36. Lennon Clark. 18th Man: 29. Will Hutchinson
Leigh Starting XIII: 21. Gareth O’Brien; 19. Innes Senior, 1. David Armstrong, 4. Umyla Hanley, 5. Josh Charnley; 6. Adam Cook, 7. Lachlan Lam; 12. Owen Trout, 17. Liam Horne, 13. Isaac Liu; 11. Frankie Halton, 22. Jack Hughes; 25. Louis Brogan.
Interchange: 9. Edwin Ipape, 16. Matt Davis, 28. Ryan Brown, 31. Lazarus Vaalepu. 18th Man: 24. Ben McNamara
Scorers
Hull Tries: Barron 2, Cust, Clark. Goals: Hardaker 3/4
Leigh Tries: Charnley 2, Cook, Armstrong 2, Hanley. Goals: Cook 4/7
Scoring System: 0-6, 0-12, 0-14, 0-18, 0-24, 0-28, HT, 4-28, 10-28, 16-28, 16-32, 22-32, FT
Referee: Aaron Moore. Video Referee: Tom Grant
Attendance: 11,843