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 declare their second victory of the Super League season.


An impressive 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 - 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 6 minutes pushed the Rhinos into a narrow half-time lead but Hull FC shut out their challengers after the break to go out deserving winners.


After Jake Connor kicked Leeds in front after five minutes, a lovely line break from Hull's James Bell enabled him to unselfishly set up Arthur to dive beneath the sticks and score versus the side his dad coaches.


Leeds then kicked the restart out on the full, for which Hull moved into Rhinos territory, and evasive play from Amir Bourouh at dummy half enabled Ligi Sao to crash over from close quarters for his 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 added 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 discovered McDonnell on the relocation to dot down in front of the going to advocates.


A stunning diving catch from Miller then continued a flowing relocation as McDonnell sought to get a second try in a few minutes, but he was stopped on the line by good scrambling defence from Hull.


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


An outstanding ankle-tap take on from Cade Cust stopped Chris Hankinson in his tracks however after referee Moore had punished the hosts for a high take on in the build-up, Connor kicked Rhinos in front 2 minutes before the break from the right touchline.


Just 60 seconds after half-time, Leeds' Maika Sivo was punished for securing the marker and Hardaker slotted over to level the match when more.


And Hull edged themselves back in front moments 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 gathered on the bounce by Litten to dot down and Hardaker's 6th effective kick made it a two-score match.


With 5 minutes staying, Connor started an attempt 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 triumph.


'A bit of a post-match response


Hull FC employer John Cartwright told BBC Radio Humberside:


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


"So, bit anxious going into the game, but I understood that we prepared well - there were a couple of missteps during the week but we had a good session Thursday.


"Courage is a requirement in any game at this level. Sometimes, you require to show a bit more guts than typical and I believed we did that today.


"Effort-wise and grit-wise, we completed well. We did the fundamentals a lot better than we've been doing, which's the foundation of your video game. We have to do that 9 times out of 10 now."


Leeds Rhinos manager Brad Arthur informed BBC Radio Leeds:


"A little bit of a reality-check isn't it? Basically, we're not as good as we think we are. Some of that ill-discipline is not what I desire our club to be about and belong to.


"It was pretty awkward, some of the discipline in the 2nd half. A lot of chaps simply desire to talk about the referee instead of doing their own job. Not great enough.


"It's actually disappointed me. We need to get to the bottom of it [the ill-discipline] and find 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 throw down the gauntlet."


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