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
edged out Leeds Rhinos in a pulsating Yorkshire derby to declare their second victory of the Super League season.
An impressive 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 - along with 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 area of six minutes pushed the Rhinos into a narrow half-time lead but Hull FC shut out their challengers after the break to run out deserving winners.
After Jake Connor kicked Leeds in front after 5 minutes, a lovely line break from Hull's James Bell enabled him to unselfishly established Arthur to dive beneath the sticks and rating versus the side his dad coaches.
Leeds then kicked the reboot out on the full, for which Hull moved into Rhinos territory, and elusive play from Amir Bourouh at dummy half allowed Ligi Sao to crash over from close quarters for his very 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 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 fans.
A stunning diving catch from Miller then continued a streaming relocation as McDonnell aimed to get a 2nd shot in a couple of minutes, however he was stopped on the line by good scrambling defence from Hull.
Another delicate kick - this time from Ash Handley - then discovered Croft in space to dot down beside the sticks, and by the time Connor had added the extras the rating was level at 14-14.
An excellent 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 tackle in the build-up, Connor kicked Rhinos in front 2 minutes before the break from the ideal 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 when Hardaker kicked a fifth objective in front of the sticks.
The home side extended their lead when John Asiata's beautiful 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 staying, Connor kicked in an effort to bring the match to within a converted 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 dangerous side to bet.
"So, bit worried going into the game, but I knew that we prepared well - there were a few missteps throughout the week however we had a good session Thursday.
"Courage is a prerequisite in any game at this level. Sometimes, you need to show a little bit more guts than typical and I thought we did that today.
"Effort-wise and grit-wise, we competed well. We did the fundamentals a lot better than we have actually been doing, and that's the structure of your game. We need to do that 9 times out of 10 now."
Leeds Rhinos employer Brad Arthur informed BBC Radio Leeds:
"A little bit of a reality-check isn't it? Basically, we're not as great as we think we are. A few of that ill-discipline is not what I want our club to be about and belong to.
"It was quite embarrassing, a few of the discipline in the 2nd half. A great deal of blokes simply wish to discuss the referee instead of doing their own task. Not great enough.
"It's actually dissatisfied me. We need to get to the bottom of it [the ill-discipline] and discover that out on Tuesday [when the players go back to training]
"What's altered? We went well 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