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 very 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 - as well as 6 kicks from Zak Hardaker - implied 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 challengers after the break to go out worthy winners.


After Jake Connor kicked Leeds in front after 5 minutes, a beautiful line break from Hull's James Bell allowed him to unselfishly set up Arthur to dive underneath the sticks and rating against the side his dad coaches.


Leeds then kicked the reboot out on the complete, for which Hull moved into Rhinos area, and elusive play from Amir Bourouh at dummy half allowed Ligi Sao to crash over from close variety for his first Super League try in 2 years.


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


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


A stunning diving catch from Miller then continued a streaming relocation as McDonnell wanted to get a second shot in a couple of minutes, but he was stopped on the line by excellent rushing defence from Hull.


Another - this time from Ash Handley - then found Croft in area to dot down beside the sticks, and by the time Connor had included the additionals ball game was level at 14-14.


An exceptional ankle-tap deal with from Cade Cust stopped Chris Hankinson in his tracks but after referee Moore had penalised the hosts for a high take on in the build-up, Connor kicked Rhinos in front two minutes before the break from the right touchline.


Just 60 seconds after half-time, Leeds' Maika Sivo was penalised for getting the marker and Hardaker slotted over to level the match once again.


And Hull edged themselves back in front minutes later when Hardaker kicked a fifth goal 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 remaining, Connor began an attempt to bring the match to within a transformed try - but 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 victory.


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


Hull FC boss John Cartwright told BBC Radio Humberside:


"They're a really unsafe side to bet.


"So, bit worried entering into the game, but I knew that we prepared well - there were a couple of hiccups throughout the week but we had a great session Thursday.


"Courage is a prerequisite in any video game at this level. Sometimes, you require to reveal 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, and that's the structure of your video game. We need to do that nine times out of 10 now."


Leeds Rhinos manager Brad Arthur told BBC Radio Leeds:


"A little bit of a reality-check isn't it? Basically, we're not as excellent as we believe we are. A few of that ill-discipline is not what I want our club to be about and become part of.


"It was quite humiliating, some of the discipline in the second half. A great deal of blokes just want to speak about the referee rather of doing their own task. Unsatisfactory.


"It's truly disappointed me. We need to get to the bottom of it [the ill-discipline] and discover that out on Tuesday [when the gamers go back to training]


"What's altered? We worked out 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