Leeds Rhinos Under-18s finished the regular season as winners as Chev Walker’s side defeated Hull FC 46-18 at the University of Hull.

A tight first half saw the Rhinos start fast, but Hull made sure they stayed in the contest by muscling up in defence.

It took ten minutes for the visitors to hit the front as Chev Walker’s side made their early pressure count through Noah Whittingham. Harry Smith had been denied a try minutes earlier, but Leeds pressed on undeterred as Zak Lloyd found a gap to dart through before offloading for Whittingham, who beat Hull full back Rhys Yorke to the line.

Two tries from Tom Richardson extended the lead further as the winger carried his scoring form from the win over Hull KR a week ago. First, he finished off quick handling from Lloyd, George Brown and Marcus Qareqare to dive into the corner. Then, straight from the restart, Richardson backed up a break from Qareqare to finish a flowing move and make it 16-0.

To their credit, Hull absorbed the Rhinos pressure and pushed for a score of their own. Joe Thompson almost set up Lloyd Kemp with a grubber into the in-goal, only for Wade White to intervene. The Leeds full back then came up with another big play, charging down Callum Kemp’s kick and almost racing away to score, but Hull rallied to keep the deficit to three tries.

Leeds thought they had added a fourth before the break, but George Brown was pulled up for a forward pass that denied Qareqare a try. This time Hull capitalised as Thompson chipped cleverly to the corner for Tyler Eccles, who found space before linking with Rio Kassim on his inside. The centre made no mistake to give the home side a much-needed score before half time.

The momentum carried into the second half as Hull cut the Rhinos’ lead down to just four points within minutes of the restart. A late hit by Whittingham gifted territory, and the Black and Whites struck when Callum Smith powered onto a short pass from Alistair Swyer to crash over.

Qareqare hit back for the Rhinos after Walker’s side capitalised on a mistake from the home team. With good field position, George Brown darted across the face of the Hull defence before slipping Qareqare through a gap to score. Elliott Fox soon added his name to the list of try scorers too, finishing strongly after Hughie Tinkler’s quick play of the ball created space. Lloyd converted both efforts to push the lead out to 28-12 with 55 minutes gone.

Kieran Calvert offered Hull hope with a try to close the margin to ten points heading into the final quarter, but Leeds took control with a ruthless finish. Dacx Jones-Buchanan crossed for his first try of the season, backing up a break from Lloyd before barging over unopposed. Harley Thomas then confirmed the result in emphatic fashion, striking twice in the final three minutes to seal a convincing 46-18 win for the visitors in their last regular season outing before the semi finals

Teams

Hull FC U18

1. Rhys Yorke, 2. Tyler Eccles, 3. Rio Kassim, 4. Lloyd Kemp, 5. Elliot Middlemas, 6. Joe Thompson, 7. Callum Kemp, 8. Charlie Cullen-Thomas, 9. Alistair Swyer, 10. Callum Smith, 11. Kieran Calvert, 12. Finley Wilson, 13. Matt Shepherdson

Subs: 14. Finlay Davies, 15. Alfie Baxter, 16. Tom Cheshire, 17. Leon Hayward (18^th Man – Kirils Prigorkins)

Tries: Kassim (34), Smith (44), Calvert (65)

Goals: Thompson 3/3

Rhinos U18

1. Wade White, 2. Tom Richardson, 3. Marcus Qareqare, 4. Harley Thomas, 5. Sam Johnson, 6. George Brown, 7. Harry Smith, 8. Lore Jones-Buchanan, 9. Elliott Fox, 10. Dacx Jones-Buchanan, 11. Dax Millington, 12. Noah Whittingham, 13. Zak Lloyd

Subs: 14. Elliott Fox, 15. Harvey Butterworth, 16. Hughie Tinkler, 17. Max Rhodes (18^th Man – Oscar Brown)

Tries: Whittingham (10), Richardson (19, 22), Qareqare (49), Fox (55), D.Jones-Buchanan (69), Thomas (77, 79)

Goals: Lloyd 4/5, Thomas 3/3