Hull were heavily beaten by Leeds.
Leeds Rhinos’ push for a top-two Super League finish continued with a convincing 34-0 victory at Hull FC on Saturday afternoon – a defeat that leaves a large dent in the Black and Whites’ own play-off hopes.
For 20 minutes, it was a contest, but then Leeds got the opening score and never looked back. Relishing the physicality, they began to throw the ball about and they got their reward.
The Rhinos are a team that look destined to put together a genuine tilt for the Grand Final come October; they’re bang in form and they’re playing with confidence.
On the contrary, Hull, already doing it tough with injury, lost two more forwards in the first half – Herman Ese’ese and then Ed Chamberlain – in a contest that quickly got away from them.
Before the game, Hull celebrated the 20-year anniversary of 2005’s famous Challenge Cup victory over Leeds – with then-captain Richard Swain in attendance among several other of his former teammates – but it was another former Hull cup winner now at Leeds, Jake Connor, who began to enjoy himself.
The 30-year-old maverick, in contention for Super League’s Man of Steel this year, had an afternoon out against his former employers, scoring one try and assisting two more.
But it didn’t look like it would be as plain sailing for Connor and co. early on, as a firm battle was developing at the MKM Stadium. However, momentum does strange things, and moments in sport can form a chain reaction. That was the case here.
After a bruising first quarter of the game, Hull messed up a block play, Leeds took advantage, and they never looked back. They opened the scoring through Ryan Hall, who needed no second invitation after FC’s error gave them a prime attacking opportunity, taking Connor’s pass to score.
The Rhinos then upped the ante again after Hull kicked the restart out on the full, with Kallum Watkins reacting first to a tap back after a Connor chip to the in-goal. The former Black and Whites star then intercepted a Brad Fash pass to race away for a third try, and after Connor sliced a kick through for Morgan Gannon to clean up, the result was done and dusted.
Hull, two interchanges down after the loss of Ese’ese and Chamberlain, continued to battle on, but it was a long way back. And Leeds were in no mood to show any mercy.
The Rhinos carved Hull up again to score through Brodie Croft, with the scoring then easing up. In fact, it was the home side who then had some chances to get over the line, but Leeds, going into the last quarter, held firm.
The game was then unfortunately stopped for several minutes as Max Simpson, on his return to the Rhinos side after a couple of lengthy and serious injuries, was stretchered off.
But when it got going again, it didn’t take Leeds long to add another try, with James McDonnell powering over to score and, with that, cement a comfortable victory. The Rhinos go marching on, with Hull counting the cost of a second successive defeat.
Teams
Hull Starting XIII: 3. Zak Hardaker; Harvey Barron, 1. Jordan Rapana, 20. Davy Litten, 22. Lewis Martin; 14. Cade Cust, 7. Aidan Sezer; 8. Herman Ese’ese, 9. Amir Bourouh, 41. Liam Watts; 4. Ed Chamberlain, 12. Jordan Lane; 16. Yusuf Aydin.
Interchange: 5. Tom Briscoe, 17. Jack Ashworth, 19. Brad Fash, 27. Matty Laidlaw.
18th Man: 21. Will Gardiner
Leeds Starting XIII: 1. Lachie Miller; 5. Ryan Hall, 3. Harry Newman, 26 Max Simpson, 31. Chris Hankinson; 6. Brodie Croft, 18. Jake Connor; 29. Presley Cassell, 14. Jarrod O’Connor, 8. Mikolaj Oledzki; 16. Morgan Gannon, 12. James McDonnell; 28. Kallum Watkins
Interchange: 32. Joe Shorrocks, 11. James Bentley, 15. Sam Lisone, 17 Cooper Jenkins. 18th Man: 9. Andy Ackers
Scorers
Hull Tries: N/A. Goals: N/A
Leeds Tries: Hall, Watkins, Connor, Gannon, Croft, McDonnell. Goals: Connor 5/6
Scoring System: 0-6, 0-12, 0-18, 0-24, HT, 0-30, 0-34, FT
Referee: Aaron Moore. Video Referee: Chris Kendall
Attendance: TBC