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 2nd triumph of the Super League season.


An impressive 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 six kicks from Zak Hardaker - indicated 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 however Hull FC shut out their challengers after the break to run out worthwhile 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 score versus the side his father coaches.


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


The Rhinos' discipline let them down when dissent towards referee Liam Moore allowed 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 eight minutes later when an inch-perfect kick from Lachie Miller found McDonnell on the move to dot down in front of the visiting fans.


A stunning diving catch from Miller then continued a flowing move as McDonnell sought to get a second try in a couple of minutes, but he was stopped on the line by good scrambling 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 extras the rating was level at 14-14.


An excellent ankle-tap tackle from Cade Cust stopped Chris Hankinson in his tracks however after referee Moore had punished the hosts for a high deal with in the accumulation, Connor kicked Rhinos in front 2 minutes before the break from the ideal 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 as soon as more.


And Hull edged themselves back in front moments 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 sixth successful kick made it a two-score match.


With five minutes staying, Connor started an effort to bring the match to within a transformed try - however the ball struck the upright and to safety as the home side hung on in front of more than 12,000 fans to claim victory.


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


Hull FC employer John Cartwright told BBC Radio Humberside:


"They're an actually dangerous side to bet.


"So, bit nervous going into the video game, but I knew that we prepared well - there were a few hiccups 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 little bit more nerve than usual and I believed we did that today.


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


Leeds Rhinos employer Brad Arthur informed BBC Radio Leeds:


"A little a reality-check isn't it? Basically, we're not as great as we believe we are. Some of that ill-discipline is not what I want 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 blokes just wish to speak about the referee rather of doing their own task. Not good enough.


"It's truly dissatisfied 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 require to accept some accountability 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