| Leeds Rhinos (14) 25 |
| Tries: Martin, Newman, Leeming, Broadbent Goals: Martin 4 Drop-goal: Leeming |
| Hull FC (16) 24 |
| Tries: Houghton, Tuimavave, Connor Goals: Sneyd 6 |
Kruise Leeming was Leeds’ extra-time hero as they beat Hull with Magic Weekend’s second dramatic golden-point drop-goal in successive games.
Hull were 16-14 ahead thanks to Marc Sneyd’s boot after tries from Danny Houghton and Carlos Tuimavave cancelled out efforts from Rhyse Martin and Harry Newman for the Rhinos.
A Jake Connor try put Hull clear before Leeming and Jack Broadbent responded.
Leeming’s drop-goal sealed victory to cap a dramatic day at St James’ Park.
In the first half of the 10 minutes of extra-time, Leeming and Richie Myler both screwed drop-kick attempts wide before Martin hit the bar with another.
Sneyd also tried his luck from long range in the second period for Hull before fifth-placed Leeds set up the perfect attacking platform in front of the sticks and Leeming kicked his first-ever drop-goal.
It followed similar golden-point drama as Catalans beat St Helens 31-30 with James Maloney’s drop-goal confirming a first Super League Leaders’ Shield for the French side.
Rhinos looking good for play-offs
Richard Agar’s Leeds strengthened their play-off hopes against his old club with a fourth Rhinos win in five matches
But a seventh defeat in eight games for Brett Hodgson’s side leaves their top-six hopes in jeopardy.
Hull, in eighth spot, must now win both their last two matches and hope either Leeds or Castleford lose both theirs.
The last game of a thrilling Magic Weekend Saturday kicked off 30 minutes late because of the Catalans clash with Saints – but this had a memorable finale too.
Leeds made a great start when Martin forced his way over and then converted his own try and kicked a penalty for an 8-0 lead.
But Myler fumbled the ball to gift a try to hooker Houghton and Sneyd levelled with a couple of goals before hoisting a high kick for centre Tuimavave to touch down and put Hull ahead.
Leeds hit back as Newman crashed through for a converted try, only for Sneyd’s second penalty to put Hull 16-14 in front at the break.
Sneyd added another penalty, then converted a try for Connor – back at half-back to accommodate the return of fit-again Jamie Shaul.
But Newman set up Leeming to score in the corner and, after a disallowed Luke Briscoe try for a foot in touch, Broadbent took Myler’s pass to go over nine minutes from time.
The conversion looked a formality for Martin, but the Papua New Guinea captain sent his kick wide and the scores were locked at 24-24. Four failed efforts at a one-pointer followed before Leeming finally succeeded.
Leeds coach Richard Agar:
“I’m really proud. If we hadn’t have won the game, I couldn’t have faulted the effort. The determination was incredible from our guys.
“I felt we deserved to win, even though there was not much in it. Pretty much all their points came off kicks. We kept bouncing back off the ropes and we didn’t stop playing.
“To summon up that type of energy was incredible. The game was nip and tuck, We were under the pump and lost Rob Lui early, I applaud a brilliant effort.”
Hull coach Brett Hodgson:
“It’s a pretty tough way to lose a game. Getting to golden point and losing always hurts more than losing in normal time.
“It might be mathematical [for the play-offs], but we’ll give it everything that we’ve got. It’s not about the league table, it’s super important we finish the season off well.
“That badge contains a huge amount of history and we need to perform at our best in our last two matches against Wigan and Wakefield to uphold that history.
“It was an improvement on the way we performed in the last two games and I’m hugely proud of the players, but I thought we lacked a bit of quality in that second half.”
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