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 success of the Super League season.


An outstanding very 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 - along with six kicks from Zak Hardaker - meant the Black and Whites took the 2 points.


Carbon-copy tries from James McDonnell and Brodie Croft within the area of 6 minutes pushed the Rhinos into a narrow half-time lead but Hull FC locked out their opponents after the break to run out deserving winners.


After Jake Connor kicked Leeds in front after five minutes, a stunning line break from Hull's James Bell enabled him to unselfishly set up Arthur to dive underneath 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 area, and elusive play from Amir Bourouh at dummy half enabled Ligi Sao to crash over from close variety for his first Super League attempt in two years.


The Rhinos' discipline let them down when dissent towards referee Liam Moore enabled a kick within range, and Hardaker included two more points as the visitors' deficit increased to 12 points after simply 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 relocation to dot down in front of the checking out advocates.


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


Another fragile kick - this time from Ash Handley - then discovered Croft in area to dot down next to the sticks, and by the time Connor had actually included the extras ball game was level at 14-14.


An excellent ankle-tap tackle from Cade Cust stopped Chris Hankinson in his tracks but after referee Moore had actually penalised the hosts for a high tackle in the accumulation, Connor kicked Rhinos in front 2 minutes before the break from the best 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 on when Hardaker kicked a fifth objective 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 5 minutes remaining, Connor kicked in an attempt to bring the match to within a transformed shot - however the ball struck the upright and bounced to security 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 response


Hull FC manager John Cartwright told BBC Radio Humberside:


"They're a truly dangerous side to bet.


"So, bit entering into the game, but I knew that we prepared well - there were a couple of missteps throughout the week however we had an excellent session Thursday.


"Courage is a prerequisite in any video game at this level. Sometimes, you need to show a little bit more courage than typical and I believed 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, which's the foundation of your game. We have to do that 9 times out of 10 now."


Leeds Rhinos employer Brad Arthur told BBC Radio Leeds:


"A bit of 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 desire our club to be about and be part of.


"It was quite awkward, a few of the discipline in the second half. A lot of chaps simply want to speak about the referee instead of doing their own job. Unsatisfactory.


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


"What's altered? We went well in Vegas. So what? We need to accept some responsibility 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