Rampant Rhinos blitz Hull
Leeds Rhinos returned to winning ways on home soil with an emphatic 46-16 victory over Hull FC on Tuesday night.
Last Updated: 30/05/09 11:53am
Leeds Rhinos returned to winning ways on home soil with an emphatic 46-16 victory over Hull FC on Tuesday night.
Keith Senior marked his 300th appearance for the Rhinos with two tries and further scores from Lee Smith (2), Brent Webb, Carl Ablett, Ryan Hall and Kevin Sinfield saw Leeds emphatically snap a two-game losing streak at Headingley Stadium.
The win also sees Brian McClennan's men move into third place in the table - two points behind Super League leaders St Helens.
Richard Whiting and Kirk Yeaman responded with first-half tries for the Airlie Birds and captain Lee Radford struck after the break, however their second defeat on the bounce keeps the Black and Whites in sixth place.
Pressure
Rhinos started the game the brighter and Mark Calderwood was forced to deal with a testing high kick on his own try-line under intense pressure from Hall.
The home side's pressure was rewarded on six minutes when the influential Sinfield picked out Smith at full pace, and he found a gap in the disorganised Hull defence to crash over for his third try of the season.
Sinfield's tough conversion drifted wide and Hull cashed in to level the scores four minutes later.
With the Black and Whites running out of ideas on the last tackle, Radford, not known for his kicking game, sent a high boot into the Rhinos corner which Hall failed to deal with, and Whiting stole in to level the scores.
Danny Tickle converted Whiting's fourth try in as many matches brilliantly and Hull edged 6-4 ahead.
The Airlie Birds continued to pile forward, however on 22 minutes Scott Donald set-off on a 42-metre run from his own goal-line which led to another Rhinos score.
When the ball was recycled, Danny Maguire fed Senior and as Hull followed the dummy run of Ian Kirke, Senior touched down for his 18th try against the Black and Whites and celebrated his landmark appearance in style.
Sinfield's conversion put Leeds 10-6 ahead and Senior nearly added his second try of the night moments later.
However, he failed to ground the ball after Sinfield's kick had put Motu Tony - playing his first game of the season - in difficulty.
As the half appeared to be drifting to a close, the match sprung into life with a three-try blitz which saw Leeds assume complete control.
Ruthless
Webb extended the Rhinos' lead four minutes before the break when he clung onto a brilliant dink over the Hull defence by McGuire and grounded under the posts. Sinfield added the extras to put Leeds 16-6 ahead.
But, as the Rhinos looked set to take their 10-point lead into the interval, Yeaman latched onto Richard Horne's intelligent grubber kick to touch down his 100th try for Hull.
And, on the stroke of the 40-minute hooter, Ali Lauititi caught Hull napping and slipped through Ablett who charged clear to extend Rhinos' lead. Sinfield's inch-perfect conversion put Rhinos 22-10 ahead.
Hull took to the field after the interval knowing they had to score first, however a costly error from Sam Moa effectively ended the game as contest.
The Tongan dropped a goal-line drop-out and from there the Rhinos pounced ruthlessly courtesy of Smith's second try of the night.
Hall added Leeds's sixth try of the night just before the hour following neat work from Senior, and despite strong appeals from Calderwood for obstruction, the try was awarded.
Sinfield took his points tally to 10 points with his fifth conversion of the night, and with Leeds 34-10 ahead, Hull were now playing purely for pride.
Captain Radford did hit back with a score of his own four minutes later, however this was to be Senior's night and the Rhinos stalwart completed a memorable evening with a second score soon after.
And, with the final hooter imminent, Sinfield snatched the ball out of Jamie Thackray's hands before powering over to complete Leeds' biggest win of the season.