Rhinos rout travel-sick Broncos
Ryan Hall helped himself to four tries as Leeds Rhinos brought an end to their losing streak with a 52-10 demolition of the London Broncos.
Last Updated: 09/04/12 5:28pm
Winger Ryan Hall helped himself to four tries as Leeds Rhinos brought an end to their three-match losing streak with a 52-10 demolition of the London Broncos at Headingley.
While Hall took the plaudits for his try-scoring exploits, the Rhinos win owed much to the performance of man-of-the-match Carl Ablett who produced an outstanding display at centre.
Ablett spent a month on loan with the Broncos in 2005 but he was in no mood to dish out favours to his former club.
The Broncos - who remain without a win on their travels this season - started well and a series of penalties and handling mistakes left Leeds needing some desperate defensive work as they were pinned back on their own line in the opening 10 minutes.
Skipper Kevin Sinfield came to the rescue from Michael Witt's astute kick to the line before Jamie O'Callaghan was tackled on his back over the line and Chris Bailey lost possession a yard short.
However, it was Leeds who opened the scoring in the 25th minute from their first threatening attack. Slick passing by Sinfield, Lee Smith and Brett Delaney on the right ended with Ablett cutting inside to touch down, Sinfield failing with the conversion attempt.
Assist for Ablett
Seven minutes later Sinfield and Smith combined and Ablett turned provider to send Ben Jones-Bishop squeezing in at the corner, Sinfield adding the goal this time.
Leeds had their tails up and after Sinfield was grounded just short, the ball was ferried out left for Hall to score the first of his tries.
Jones-Bishop collected his second try just before half-time after a glorious break by Ablett was carried on by Smith to leave the Rhinos leading 18-0.
The Broncos hit back with two tries in the opening seven minutes of the second half, with substitute Luke Dorn showing the way. Dorn's long pass exposed poor Leeds marking as winger Kieran Dixon scored his second try in as many games.
Then Dorn cleverly dummied his way through and Witt added the goal to leave eight points between the teams.
Leeds' nerves were steadied when Hall held on to Sinfield's angled kick to score his second try and then repeated the act to chalk up his hat-trick, Sinfield improving both tries.
Hall was not satisfied with that as he raced in at the corner for his fourth try of the afternoon and his 11th of the season.
Full-back Brent Webb scored the Rhinos' eighth, and two late tries by Zak Hardaker completed the romp.