Hull FC 12-22 Leeds Rhinos

Hull FC hosted Leeds Rhinos at the MKM Stadium last night. The Black and White welcomed back five players from injury and illness to the starting XIII. After several weeks away from action FC was beaten by Huddersfield last time out 40-26. Their opponents Leeds Rhinos were on the back of a convincing victory against Salford, prior to that had lost two on the bounce, both to Catalans.

The first half was very much Hull FC’s for the taking at times. Hull dominated the territory and pressure statistics, spending a lot of the time putting the visitors on the back foot. Leeds opened the scoring with just over half of the first period gone, through a Rhyse Martin penalty. In the 25th minute Hull’s half-backs, Marc Sneyd and the returning Josh Reynolds, combined with quick hands to put Adam Swift over in the corner. It was first and only try of the half, Sneyd added the extras with a touchline conversion. The Rhinos realising every point might count in such a close scoring game picked up another two points from another Martin penalty. The Black and Whites led at halftime 6-4, although could have been more.

The second half was a more even affair to start with. The crowd waiting for a score and the first came after 17 minutes of the second half. The Rhinos had their first try of the game from a smart piece of play at dummy half from Brad Dwyer, FC’s defence had switched off for a second and were punished. The momentum was with the visitors now, and within five minutes they had another try. Kruise Leeming put Richie Myler through a gap in the defence for the full-back to slide over from close range. It was soft defending which rounded off Leeds scoring for the evening. Dwyer this time with an assist. A short pass found Cameron Scott twisting his way over the line. Both sides had sin-binning in the final ten minutes, Reynolds and Myler the offenders following an altercation. Hull did have the final say in the game even if it was a consolation. Tuimavave stole the ball in a one-on-one tackle near the Rhinos line, racing wide and sliding home. Brett Hodgson will be disappointed with the type of tries conceded and possibly with the lack of opportunities created despite the dominance in large portions of the game. The dominance however will be a positive. It is a short turnaround as FC host, St Helens, on Monday.

Report by: Simon Bromwich

Hull FC 12 (6)
Tries: Swift, Tuimavave. Goals: Sneyd 2

Leeds Rhinos 22 (4)
Tries: Dwyer, Myler, Smith. Goals: Martin 5

Published: 30th July 2021