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 exceptional 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 - as well as six 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 nudged the Rhinos into a narrow half-time lead but Hull FC locked out their challengers after the break to go out deserving winners.


After Jake Connor kicked Leeds in front after 5 minutes, a gorgeous line break from Hull's James Bell allowed him to unselfishly established Arthur to dive underneath the sticks and rating versus the side his daddy .


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


The Rhinos' discipline let them down when dissent towards referee Liam Moore made it possible for a kick within range, and Hardaker added 2 more points as the visitors' deficit increased to 12 points after simply 17 minutes.


But Rhinos were back in the contest 8 minutes later when an inch-perfect kick from Lachie Miller discovered McDonnell on the move to dot down in front of the visiting advocates.


A stunning diving catch from Miller then continued a streaming move as McDonnell sought to get a 2nd try in a few minutes, however 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 included the additionals 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 actually penalised the hosts for a high tackle in the build-up, Connor kicked Rhinos in front two minutes before the break from the right touchline.


Just one minute after half-time, Leeds' Maika Sivo was penalised for securing the marker and Hardaker slotted over to level the match once more.


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 gorgeous 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 kicked in an attempt to bring the match to within a converted shot - 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 success.


'A little bit of a reality-check' - post-match reaction


Hull FC boss John Cartwright told BBC Radio Humberside:


"They're a truly harmful side to bet.


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


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


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


Leeds Rhinos employer 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. Some of that ill-discipline is not what I want our club to be about and belong to.


"It was pretty humiliating, a few of the discipline in the 2nd half. A lot of blokes simply want to speak about the referee instead of doing their own job. 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 players return to training]


"What's changed? We worked out 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