A drop goal from Kruise Leeming three minutes into the second period of Golden Point extra time saw the Rhinos record an incredible 25-24 win over Hull FC at St James’ Park in Newcastle.

The Rhinos had trailed 24-14 midway through the second half but fought back to level the game and send it into Golden Point.

The Rhinos made a strong start after a 30 minute delay to the kick off as the Dacia Magic Weekend returned to St James’ Park in Newcastle.

Early pressure created a sustained period of possession on the Hull FC line and eventually Leeds got their reward with Rhyse Martin showed great strength to get away from three would be tacklers and stretch out to plant the ball down. He added the conversion to give Leeds a 6-0 lead after five minutes.

The lead was extended soon after when a late challenge by Jake Connor on Richie Myler after he had kicked the ball. Martin opted to kick for goal and made it 8-0 after as many minutes.

However, Leeds then managed to give Hull FC a way back into the game on the back of two errors. A dropped pass from Martin gave Hull possession inside the Leeds half and then Myler misjudged the bounce of Sneyd’s grubber kick and Danny Houghton was on the spot to pinch the ball from his grasp to score between the posts. Sneyd added the simple conversion and a penalty a couple of minutes later to level the score.

Hull FC then took the lead for the first time when Sneyd found himself in space on the last tackle and floated a kick wide for Connor to knock down into the path of Carlos Tuimavave to score. Sneyd’s conversion made it 14-8 after 22 minutes.

Leeds needed to find a foothold in the game and it came when Harry Newman chased up a kick by Kruise Leeming to force a repeat set. In the next set, Newman was on hand to hit back when he powered through the line to score. Rhyse Martin added the conversion to level the score.

Hull FC were denied a third try by the video referee when the replay showed a knock on before Andre Savelio picked up the loose ball to score in the corner. However, Brett Hodgson’s side did regain the lead with the final kick of the first half when Sneyd kicked a penalty in front of the posts as the half time hooter sounded.

The Black and Whites made the better start after the break and soon increased their lead when Sneyd kicked another penalty after Luke Briscoe spilled a high kick and Leeming had no option but to pick up from an offside position.

Things got worse for Leeds soon after when Connor kicked a 40:20 and then went over for a try at the start of the next set. Sneyd drilled his conversion low from the sidelines and over the cross bar to give his side a ten point lead.

Once again the Rhinos found themselves needed to create a way back into the game and they did it by playing some sensational rugby. Richard Agar’s side kept the ball alive before Newman gave the final telling pass to put Kruise Leeming over in the corner. Martin’s conversion hit the post and rebounded over to cut the gap to 24-20.

The Rhinos thought they had levelled the game with 16 minutes to go when Luke Briscoe went over in the corner but the replay showed the wingers ankle roll into touch and the score was disallowed.

Leeds did finally equalise with seven minutes to go when they move the ball wide and Jack Broadbent marked his return to the side but cutting inside the defence and round to score. Unfortunately the usually reliable boot of Rhyse Martin was off target and set up a grandstand finish for the final game of the first day of the Magic Weekend.

The Rhinos showed some incredible defence to keep Hull out in the closing stages and force the game into Golden Point extra time as it remained 24-24 at the end of eighty minutes.

Leeds dominated the first period of golden point extra time and had three chances to win the game. The first was created by a break from Ash Handley before Kruise Leeming put his drop goal attempt wide, then Richie Myler put an attempt wide to the left before Rhyse Martin hit the post with a third attempt with the final kick of the first half of golden point extra time.