Hull FC U18 22 Leeds Rhinos U18 30

Leeds Rhinos Under-18s put an end to their losing start to 2024 as Tony Smith’s side secured a 30-22 win on the road against Hull FC on Saturday afternoon.

Tries in both halves from Joe Butterfield led the Rhinos to victory, along with tries for fellow forward Jacob Stead, Presley Cassell and Joe Diskin’s crucial try in the final minutes.

Team News

The young Rhinos made a handful of changes from their last outing against Wigan. Harry Taylor came back into the starting lineup for his first game back since scoring a try against St Helens in round one, and prop Declan White also returned on the bench. He was joined by Dylan Hutchinson who made his first appearance for the Under-18s since moving up from the Scholarship last year.

The absence of both Mason Corbett and Alex Cowley meant that Joe Diskin rotated positions from full back to hooker and Harley Thomas slotted in the number one shirt. The forwards were also largely unchanged for Leeds, except for the introduction of Bobby Hartley in the back row in place of Noah Whittingham who moved onto the bench.

1^st Half

A tightly contested first half saw Leeds open with the best chances early on and their pressure quickly paid off when Joe Butterfield crashed over the try line shy of the 10-minute mark. Having been close to the Hull try line on a number of occasions but being unable to make their chances count, the Rhinos didn’t panic when full back Harley Thomas was wrapped up as on the next play Joe Phillips fed Butterfield through a big hole in the black and whites’ defence for the prop to score the opening try.

Almost instantly, the home side reacted to get back on level terms. An error from Harry Taylor close to his try line applied pressure back on the Leeds defence and Hull took their chance; Joe Ward finishing in the corner to make the score 6-6.

Hull had chances to extend their scoreline, but resilient defence from Tony Smith’s Rhinos kept them in the match; Callum Kemp in particular tried a dart for the line himself in a last-ditch effort but couldn’t get the ball down. Leeds offered a response as Fergus McCormack managed to break free only for his pass intended for Phillips to go to ground, but luck played into their hands minutes later.

Harry Smith tried to stab a grubber kick for the in-goal area, but as a ricochetted off the legs of Hull defenders, the ball found its way into the path of Jacob Stead who picked it up and touched down to edge Leeds ahead once again.

Despite conceding, Francis Cummins’ Hull side replied again to lock the score up. A penalty against Leeds from the restart gave the black and whites the field position and off the back of a searching run from Ryan Westerman, Lennon Clark found an offload inside to Jordan Baker who had the easy job of finishing. Westerman made the score 12-12 with his conversion.

As tensions continued to rise and chances came and went for both outfits, Leeds suffered a major blow as back to back sin binnings left them reduced on the field for the start of the second half. Fergus McCormack was picked up by the referee for a high tackle and sent to the bin, before half back partner Harry Smith was also shown a yellow card for a professional foul as he held down the Hull man after a break downfield. Hull were unable to make the extra man count for the final moments of the half though, sending the teams into the break at 12-12.

2^nd Half

A free-scoring second half saw the battle between the two clubs continue as they fought until the end for the win.

Leeds’ eleven men weren’t overwhelmed by their full strength opponents at the start of the half as they forced an early error from the kick off and apply pressure. Hull proved to be their own worse enemy as a forward pass, that would have seen Jordan Baker away,  was picked up by the referee. Westerman also tried to punish the Rhinos edge defence only to be stopped in his tracks by Taylor who bundled his opposite number over the sideline.

A mad scoring spree kickstarted on 53 minutes when Cassell fought his way to the try line to put Leeds ahead for the third time in the match, only for Hull to respond as Ben Johnson sliced his way over a try after Leeds had failed to catch the restart.

Advantage was handed back to the visitors in the shape of Butterfield as Leeds made Hull pay for a knock on by Lennon Nicholson. Once again though, the black and whites had an answer, Kirby throwing a rogue offload behind him that somehow landed in the grasp of Kemp who closed the scoreline to two points at 24-22.

A nailbiting last ten minutes saw both sides go for it, but a clever grubber kick pinned Hull back behind their own try line and put Leeds in the driving seat to score. As they brought the dropout back from the halfway line, a great drive from Whittingham fractured the black and white's defence and a quick play of the ball allowed Diskin to dive over out of dummy half. Harley Thomas added the two points to take the score to 30-24 and set up a tense final few minutes.

Hull kept the game in the balance as they threw everything at the Rhinos with five minutes to go, but a relieving final whistle gave the young Rhinos win number one of 2024.

The Under-18s are next in action on Thursday 9^th May when they host Wakefield Trinity at Stanningley, kick off 7pm.

Match Facts

Hull FC

1. Lloyd Kemp, 2. Joe Ward, 3. Lennon Nicholson, 4. Ryan Westerman, 5. Callum Barfield, 6. Ben Johnson, 7. Callum Kemp, 8. Jordan Baker, 9. Will Hutchinson, 10. Owen Haldenby, 11. Lennon Clark, 12. Kieran Calvert, 13. Will Kirby,

Subs: 14. Tom Rea, 15. Callum Smith, 16. Joseph Thompson, 17. Jon Turner

Tries: Ward (12), Baker (26), Johnson (56), Kemp (69)

Goals: Westerman 3/4

Rhinos

1. Harley Thomas, 2. Callum Webster, 3. Marcus Qareqare, 4. Harry Taylor, 5. Dax Millington, 6. Fergus McCormack, 7. Harry Smith, 8. Joe Phillips, 9. Joe Diskin, 10, Joe Butterfield, 11. Jacob Stead, 12. Bobby Hartley, 13. Presley Cassell

Subs: 14. Dylan Hutchinson, 15. Jayemm Oladipupo, 16. Noah Whittingham, 17. Declan White (18^th Player – 18. Oliver Smart)

Tries: Butterfield (9, 65), Stead (22), Cassell (53), Diskin (74)

Goals: Harley 5/5

Sin Bin: McCormack (33) – dangerous tackle, Smith (38) – professional foul