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 2nd victory of the Super League season.


An impressive first 40 minutes supplied 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 - meant the Black and Whites took the two points.


Carbon-copy shots from James McDonnell and Brodie Croft within the space of 6 minutes nudged the Rhinos into a narrow half-time lead but Hull FC shut out their opponents after the break to go out deserving winners.


After Jake Connor kicked Leeds in front after 5 minutes, a beautiful line break from Hull's James Bell enabled him to unselfishly established Arthur to dive beneath the sticks and rating versus the side his father 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 enabled Ligi Sao to crash over from close quarters for his first Super League attempt in two years.


The Rhinos' discipline let them down when dissent towards referee Liam Moore allowed a kick within range, and Hardaker added two more points as the visitors' deficit increased to 12 points after simply 17 minutes.


But Rhinos were back in the contest eight minutes later on when an inch-perfect kick from Lachie Miller found McDonnell on the move to dot down in front of the checking out supporters.


A spectacular diving catch from Miller then continued a flowing move as McDonnell wanted to get a 2nd try in a few minutes, but he was stopped on the line by great rushing defence from Hull.


Another fragile kick - this time from Ash Handley - then discovered Croft in space to dot down beside the sticks, and by the time Connor had actually added the additionals ball game 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 penalised the hosts for a high tackle in the accumulation, Connor kicked Rhinos in front two minutes before the break from the best touchline.


Just one minute after half-time, Leeds' Maika Sivo was penalised 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 stunning grubber kick was gathered on the bounce by Litten to dot down and Hardaker's 6th successful kick made it a two-score match.


With 5 minutes staying, Connor started an attempt to bring the match to within a transformed try - however the ball struck the upright and bounced to security as the home side held on in front of more than 12,000 fans to declare victory.


'A little a reality-check' - post-match response


Hull FC manager John Cartwright told BBC Radio Humberside:


"They're an actually harmful side to play versus.


"So, bit nervous 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 need to show a bit more guts than normal and I believed we did that today.


"Effort-wise and grit-wise, we completed well. We did the essentials a lot better than we have actually been doing, which's the foundation 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 little a reality-check isn't it? Basically, we're not as good 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 pretty embarrassing, some of the discipline in the second half. A great deal of chaps just desire to speak about the referee rather of doing their own task. Unsatisfactory.


"It's really disappointed me. We 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 changed? 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