Hull FC and Leigh Leopards played out a dramatic 22-22 draw at the MKM Stadium on Thursday night.
Here’s our verdict.
Action
Both Leigh Leopards and Hull FC have surprised with the form they have shown early in the season, with Hull’s home loss to Wigan being the only blotch on their combined records heading into the contest.
As such, fans tuning into this one could have expected a close contest and that’s exactly what they got, with the game ebbing and froing before ending in a 22-22 draw after golden point, with a touch of controversy thrown in for good measure.
It was the Black and Whites who started the better of the two and they took the lead on home soil through Jed Cartwright, who touched down after a superb offload from former Leigh boy John Asiata.
Leigh hit back through Tesi Niu, though, with the Tonga international finishing a move that passed through the whole team. A double pump from Lachlan Lam created the opening for Andrew Badrock to stretch his legs on his debut and the back-rower found Niu, who had too much muscle for Logan Moy.
Then came the controversy. Aidan Sezer was shown a soft yellow for catching David Armstrong high, reducing Hull to 12 and they were down to 11 moments later when Jordan Rapana met a similar fate for a similar offence.
The first penalty allowed Gareth O’Brien to kick Leigh in front and Umyla Hanley made the visitors numerical advantage count when he slipped through the hole Rapana would have been in to touch down.
With a full complement of players, Hull hit back in the second half as Sezer’s sumptuous cross-field kick was patted back by Tom Briscoe and into the path of Harvey Barron, who didn’t need a second invitation to finish.
David Armstrong had been ill all week, but you wouldn’t have thought it as he showed a burst of pace to slip by Barron and touch down in the corner.
Hull hit back again to level the scores heading into the final 15 minutes of the game as Herman Ese’ese hit a crash ball at pace to five a scrambling Leigh line no chance of stopping in.
Armstrong found joy on Hull’s right edge once more to touch down, though, but it wasn’t enough to secure the win in 80 minutes with Lewis Martin going over in what seemed to be another controversial moment.
The winger touched down in the corner acrobatically, but it was inconclusive whether his foot was in touch or not as the ball hit the green of the in-goal area. Aidan Sezer could have won it with the conversion, but his kick struck the upright and that signalled golden point.
But, after yet more controversy, with Hull feeling as though Tom Briscoe had caught the kick-off with his foot on the line, neither side could win the game. Lam made a mess of three drop-goal attempts with Hull charging down the first emphatically before Brad Fash blocked the latter.
Star man
David Armstrong. A doubt leading into the game due to illness, as mentioned above, but he dug deep and came up with two second half tries to keep Leigh’s unbeaten start intact, even if they didn’t win it.
Good day for
Hull FC. The Black and Whites didn’t get the win but they look like a completely different team under the guidance of John Cartwright. They’re hard to beat, the first four games of the season have shown us that and if it wasn’t for a few questionable calls, they could have got the win.
Bad day for
Tom Grant and the officials. They won’t want to look on social media tonight, with the majority of the rugby league world questioning the two sin-bin calls in the first half with a number of the other strange calls that came over the course of the 80 minutes and golden point.
Bigger picture
The debate about some of those decisions will rumble on, but the draw was probably a fair result in the end, with the two sides being impossible to split.
Ultimately, the point keeps Leigh’s unbeaten start going and they were certainly tested and put through the wringer at the MKM Stadium.
Whether they had won or lost, Hull would have every right to pat themselves on the back for the way they overcame adversity and kept themselves in the game. Such determination highlighted the progress made in a short space of time under John Cartwright, because it’s fair to say they would have crumbled in similar positions last season.
Teams
Hull FC: Logan Moy; Harvey Barron, Tom Briscoe, Jordan Rapana, Lewis Martin; Cade Cust, Aidan Sezer; Herman Ese’ese, Amir Bourouh, Yusuf Aydin, Jed Cartwright, Jordan Lane, John Asiata.
Bench: Jack Ashworth, Brad Fash, Will Hutchinson, Liam Knight.
Leigh Leopards: David Armstrong, Keanan Brand, Tesi Niu, Umyla Hanley, Bailey Hodgson; Gareth O’Brien, Lachlan Lam; Owen Trout, Edwin Ipape, Jack Hughes; Andrew Badrock, Ethan O’Neill, Isaac Liu.
Bench: Louis Brogan, Alec Tuitavake, Matthew Davis, Brad Dwyer.
Rugby League fans all say the same thing about controversial Hull FC v Leigh decisions https://t.co/QRspT36Kom
— Serious About Rugby League (@SeriousAboutRL) March 6, 2025
