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 triumph of the Super League season.
An outstanding 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 - as well as 6 kicks from Zak Hardaker - indicated the Black and Whites took the two points.
Carbon-copy tries from James McDonnell and Brodie Croft within the area of six minutes pushed the Rhinos into a narrow half-time lead however Hull FC locked out their opponents after the break to run out worthwhile winners.
After Jake Connor kicked Leeds in front after five minutes, a beautiful line break from Hull's James Bell enabled 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 full, 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 attempt in 2 years.
The Rhinos' discipline let them down when dissent towards referee Liam Moore allowed a kick within variety, and Hardaker included 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 found McDonnell on the move to dot down in front of the going to supporters.
A spectacular diving catch from Miller then continued a streaming relocation as McDonnell aimed to get a second shot in a few minutes, but he was stopped on the line by excellent scrambling defence from Hull.
Another delicate kick - this time from - then found Croft in space to dot down beside the sticks, and by the time Connor had added the bonus ball game was level at 14-14.
An exceptional ankle-tap take on from Cade Cust stopped Chris Hankinson in his tracks but after referee Moore had actually punished the hosts for a high take on in the build-up, 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 taking out the marker and Hardaker slotted over to level the match again.
And Hull edged themselves back in front minutes later when Hardaker kicked a 5th goal in front of the sticks.
The home side extended their lead when John Asiata's gorgeous grubber kick was collected 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 kicked in an effort to bring the match to within a transformed try - however the ball struck the upright and bounced to safety as the home side held on in front of more than 12,000 fans to declare success.
'A little bit of a reality-check' - post-match reaction
Hull FC manager John Cartwright told BBC Radio Humberside:
"They're a truly hazardous side to play versus.
"So, bit worried going into the video game, but I understood that we prepared well - there were a few missteps throughout the week but we had an excellent session Thursday.
"Courage is a prerequisite in any video game at this level. Sometimes, you require to show a little bit more courage than usual and I thought we did that today.
"Effort-wise and grit-wise, we completed well. We did the fundamentals a lot much better than we've been doing, and that's the structure of your game. We have to do that nine times out of 10 now."
Leeds Rhinos boss Brad Arthur told BBC Radio Leeds:
"A little a reality-check isn't it? Basically, we're not as excellent as we believe we are. Some of that ill-discipline is not what I want our club to be about and become part of.
"It was quite awkward, a few of the discipline in the 2nd half. A great deal of blokes simply wish to talk about the referee rather of doing their own job. Not good enough.
"It's actually dissatisfied 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 altered? We went well in Vegas. So what? We need to accept some responsibility 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