A win for the Leeds Rhinos at Hull FC would lift them into
third spot in the table with three rounds of the season remaining, a win for
the hosts would put them three points clear of seventh placed Wakefield Trinity, and strengthen their claim for a top six spot and a place in the play-offs.

The bookies fancied a win for a resurgent Rhinos but with
just a six-point handicap on the coupon they weren’t expecting them to have it
all their own way, Hull FC expected to run them close.

Leeds were the winners by just two points when the sides met
in May, and in a weekend of intriguing fixtures, this might just have been the most
unpredictable.

It was a nervous opening from both sides with little to
choose between them. As the quarter game approached it was Hull who seemed to
have gained the upper hand but on twenty-two minutes Ryan Hall, on his 400^th
appearance, grabbed the opening try as he took a Jake Connor miss out pass,
rounded the Hull winger and improved the angle for Connor to add the extra two.

When Zak Hardaker put the kick-off out on the full the
Rhinos were presented another attacking opportunity. On the last tackle a high
kick into goal was knocked back by Connor into the hands of Kallum Watkins to juggle
and then ground. Connor added the conversion for a 12-0 lead.

It then got worse for Hull, Ed Chamberlain and Herman Ese’ese
both limping off the field. Within two minutes of the loss of the big man,
Connor intercepted a wayward Brad Fash pass on the halfway line and sprinted to
score under the sticks. He converted his own try for 18-0, the Rhinos now
comfortable.

Everything was coming off for Leeds. Five minutes from the
break a Connor grubber bounced nicely for Morgan Gannon to collect and go
behind the sticks for t he fourth Rhinos try. Connor was on target again with
the conversion for a commanding 24-0 half time lead.

Croft attempted a drop goal in the last second of the half,
but it drifted wide of the target.

It took the Rhinos just four minutes of the second half to
register their fifth try of the game, Jarrod O’Connor taking a late offload and
breaking for twenty metres before finding Brodie Croft to run the least twenty
and score under the sticks. Connor added the extras for 30-0.

A long stoppage in play on sixty-four allowed Max Simpson to
be stretchered off the field on his first game back from a three-year injury
absence after breaking his ankle in Toulouse in 2022.

After easing off the gas for twenty minutes, the Rhino’s
were in again with ten minutes of the game remaining, James McDonnell walking
through two tacklers off a Connor pass to drop over the line and ground. Connor
hit the post with the conversion attempt.

But Leeds cruised to a 34-0 win, Hull FC kept pointless.

Leeds are up to third, level on points with the Wigan
Warriors who face the Catalans Dragons later in the evening. The crucial game,
the decider for second spot, could be the final weekend encounter between Leeds
and Wigan. Hull could now drop out of the six depending on the outcome of the
Wakefield and Huddersfield game in a couple of hours’ time, Should Trinity get
the points they the play-offs are out of Hull’s direct control.

Hull FC: Hardaker, Barron, Rapana, Litten, Martin, Cust,
Sezer, Ese’ese, Bourouh, Watts, Chamberlain, Lane, Aydin. Subs: Briscoe,
Ashworth, Fash, Laidlaw. 18^th Man: Gardiner.

Leeds Rhinos: Miller, Hall (T), Newman, Simpson, Hankinson,
Croft (T), Connor (T, G 5/6), Cassell, O’Connor, Oledzki, Gannon (T), McDonnell
(T), Watkins (T). Subs: Shorrocks, Lisone, Bentley, Jenkins. 18^th
Man: Ackers. 

Half-Time: 0-24.

Full-Time: 0-34.  

Score Progression: 0-4, 0-6, 0-10, 0-12, 0-16, 0-18, 0-22,
0-24 : HT: 0-28, 0-30, 0-34 :FT.

Lead Exchanges: Leeds.

Referee: Aaron Moore.