The Hull FC Academy ended their 2021 campaign with an 18-12 victory over Leeds Rhinos Under 19s at Emerald Headingley Stadium this afternoon.
Jude Ferreira, Alex Gibson and Davy Litten scored the decisive tries for Hull on a muggy afternoon in West Yorkshire.
The Black & Whites managed to keep Leeds scoreless until the 73rd minute, when late tries from Ethan Spear and Oliver Field set up a grandstand finale, but the visitors managed to repel a late surge from the Rhinos to see out the victory.
The Match
The first ten minutes proved to be a real war of attrition, with both sides going set for set in the early exchanges.
And it took a piece of individual quality to set up the first try of the game. Keiran Masike demonstrated some outrageous footwork to fool his opposite man, before offering a one-handed offload to Ferreira, who was able to draw first blood in the left corner.
Earlier in the game, Gibson had a try ruled out for an offside offence following Ben McNamara’s grubber kick, but the forward wasn’t going to let a second shot at the try line pass him by after 25 minutes. He managed to wrestle the ball to ground over the whitewash, despite the best interests of as many as four Leeds defenders.
The Rhinos enjoyed a purple patch on the approach to half-time. Just as it looked as though Levi Edwards had run the perfect line to score a try untouched, the referee called play back for a forward pass.
HALF-TIME: Rhinos 0-12 Hull
Hull will have been satisfied with their first half, but there was still room for improvement in the discipline department. That was something they managed to sharpen up on in the first period of the second half, and they were soon rewarded with a third try of the afternoon.
With 56 minutes on the clock, Jacob Hookem took the ball into the defensive line and put a teasing grubber kick into the Rhinos’ in-goal area, which Litten managed to pounce on just before it went dead.
McNamara’s three conversions held Hull in good stead with just over 20 minutes remaining, but fatigue would eventually catch up with the Black & Whites.
Spear managed to latch onto an offload in the middle of the park before evading some tired Hull defenders, storming his way over the try line to give the hosts a glimmer of hope.
From the first set of six following the restart, Leeds were in again. This time it was Field with a sharp show-and-go, taking advantage of some lax Hull defence in the closing stages of the game.
With five minutes to go, there was still time for the Rhinos to complete a late comeback. There were certainly chances for Leeds to capitalise on, but they weren’t able to break Hull down for a third time thanks to some exceptional scramble defence.
FULL-TIME: Rhinos 12-18 Hull
Squads & Scorers
Hull: Litten, Ferreira, Masike, Walker, Wacokecoke, McNamara, Hookem, Burrell, Rutland, Laidlaw, Jackson, Staveley, Gibson
Hull Interchanges: Balogun, Morley, Petrie, Sukani, Speed, Trulson, Yeaman
Hull Tries: Ferreira, Gibson, Litten
Hull Goals: McNamara (2/2)
Rhinos: Nichol, Sheils, Hall, Edwards, Ene, Sinfield, Morgan, Wallace, Mallinson, Snee, Mayhew, Field, Atkinson
Rhinos Interchanges: Edgell, Gibbons, Glancy, Hird, Salkeld, Simpson, Spear
Rhinos Tries: Spear, Field
Rhinos Goals: Mallinson (2/2)
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