Round 19
Hull FC 30 l. Leeds Rhinos 43

2009 engage English Super League Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: United Kingdom > National > First Grade Competition: engage English Super League

Leeds close gap at top of the table
Sun July 5, 2009
Source: www.superleague.co.uk

History-maker Keith Senior helped Leeds Rhinos take full advantage of St Helens' surprise defeat on Friday as they closed the gap between the two at the top of the table to two points courtesy of a thrilling 43-30 win at Hull FC.

The evergreen centre, who became the first player in the modern era to reach 500 senior appearances when he led the reigning champions out at the KC Stadium, scored one of Brian McClennan's side's seven tries as they condemned Hull to a 12th defeat in their last 15, although the home side deserved every credit after recovering from being 30-6 down at one stage.

The two points, earned without injured playmaker Danny McGuire, represented Leeds' fourth straight win and their seventh in their last eight outings and saw them apply further pressure on the Saints who fell to an unexpected defeat 20-10 defeat at Salford on Friday.

Hull, who came into the game buoyed by the announcement that they have signed Australia Test forward Mark O'Meley, soon had their bubble burst as Leeds produced a stunning first-half performance.

The procession started as early as the fifth minute when England winger Ryan Hall took in Senior's pass to poach his 20th try of the season.

Hull had reason to feel aggrieved by the score as their appeared to be a forward pass in the build-up while there was also some suspicion that Hall had stepped into touch as he went over the line.

Leeds did not let it affect them, though, and Hall went in for a quick-fire double three minutes later after some excellent interchange between Senior and Kevin Sinfield, whose superb 40-20 teed up the move.

Hull briefly fought back, with Shaun Berrigan powering his way over while Danny Tickle added the goal to extend his run of being the only player in the competition to score in every game this season.

Tickle would go on to add a try and a goal before the break after some good work from Jodie Broughton and Willie Manu had one chalked off by the video referee but not before Leeds had posted another three scores.

Senior was the first to go over, showing no mercy to the apologetic defence of Graeme Horne who offered little resistance to the 33-year-old as he swept in for a 230th career try. The origins of the try will not have been lost on McClennan, with ex-Leeds prop Jamie Thackray, who publicly criticised him this week, dropping the ball close to his own line.

Scott Donald then chimed in with his sixth score of the season after a cute Ashley Gibson pass while Sinfield, who remarkably converted all five of the tries from the touchline, went in for a deserved four-pointer of his own after a sharp break from Rob Burrow.

The points continued to flow after the break as Gibson plundered a score in the corner allowing Sinfield to maintain his stunning record.

Hull did manage to stem the flow of points, though, and after doing so mounted a stirring comeback with a brace of tries from Gareth Raynor and Kirk Yeaman.

Raynor slid in for a third in four outings after a perfectly weighted kick from Berrigan while Yeaman burst through after a flat pass from Paul King and, with Tickle converting both, Leeds air of invincibility was starting to slip away.

They were fortunate not to concede a fifth try as Danny Houghton made a breezy run that would have led to a score had Lee Radford had the pace to stay with him and their falling stock was emphasised as Burrow hit the panic button and dropped a goal to earn them a three-score lead.

It was a relief for Leeds that he did too, as Hull, aided by Leeds' poor discipline, continued to pour forward and stormed in for another try from Mike Burnett before Leeds put Hull's resilience to bed with a try from Lee Smith which Sinfield converted, this time from close to the posts.


Airlie News: Hull FC v Leeds
Sat July 4, 2009
Source: www.hullfc.com

Hull FC have been forced to make two changes to their 19-man squad for Saturday nights televised Super League encounter against the Leeds Rhinos.

Full-back Motu Tony misses out after undergoing surgery on his ankle and foot earlier this week following an infection, believed to have been caused by an insect bite.

Hull FC Head Coach Richard Agar says it is a cruel blow.

"At the moment the prognosis is that it was an insect bite which typifies Motu's luck this season and our luck. He'll have a pot on for 2-3weeks then he'll have to go in again for them to have a look and see what damage has to his joints and ligaments," he said.

"We don't what's flying about in the British sky's at the moment but Motu's come off the pitch at the weekend and felt an ankle injury which was a little mystery to us.

"His ankle swelled up badly over night, we got him in straight away Monday morning for an emergency scan and it was showing an infection, so it was vital that they got the infection out," said Agar.

Ewan Dowes will also miss the visit of his former club after picking up a knock in training and he now faces scans to find out the severity of the injury.

That means youngsters Josh Hodgson and Dominic Maloney come back into Richard Agar's 19-man squad, while last week's 18th man Chris Thorman or stand-off Richard Horne will have to revert back to the full-back role to cover Tony.

Both players have covered the position earlier this season, with Horne in particular putting in some strong performances in the position.

Craig Hall had also been tipped for a return to the side to offer cover at the back, but the club have opted not to bring him back from his current loan spell with National League One side Widnes at this time.

Agar said, "We're very mindful that were not going to bring Craig back to play in the 21's when he is playing first grade at Widnes, including a big final coming up for them which will be a terrific experience for Craig, but at the same time we know his priorities lie with us and we'll have a look at the squad and make a decision over the next 24-48 hours whether were going to terminated his loan at Widnes."

He went on to say, "Richard Horne has played a number of games and played well at fullback so in the short term we'll look at that and in the long term we will explore one or two other options."

However, the bad news on the injury front has been tempered by some positive signing news, after Hame Lauaki was finally granted his visa and can now join his new teammates.

The 25-year-old New Zealand Warrior signed a three-year deal with Hull earlier this season but was unable to join his new side because of delays to his VISA application.

However, now that has been passed the Tongan test star is expected to arrive at his new club shortly so he can continue his rehabilitation from an arm injury with Hull physio Simon Pope before playing his part in the end of season run-in.

Hull coach Agar said, "We've got Lauaki's visa through which is a relief, it has been a long a frustrating process. I think it is important we don't expect too much too soon bearing in mind he hasn't played much football over the last ten months, but we will assess his injury when he gets here and see were his fitness levels are at and I'm sure we'll see him in a black & white shirt before too long."

He added, "He's aggressive, he's up front and confrontational, and added to that, when he has the football he's a big handful, he can punch holes in defensive lines, he has amazing footwork for a big fella and a terrific offload."

The Black and Whites face a tough couple of months as they battle it out with Warrington, Wigan, Castleford and Catalans for the last couple of places in the top eight.

Hull Kingston Rovers and Huddersfield are on the way, as well as a trip to France on the horizon, but it all starts this weekend with a tough test against the current Super League Champions.

Even without one of their star men in Brent Webb who misses out with a neck injury, they still have an endless amount of talent in their side, boosted by the return of Matt Diskin, while young centre Michael Ratu comes back in after impressing in reserves.

The game at the KC Stadium will also see Keith Senior make his 500th career appearance.

The Rhinos form had tailed off earlier in the season, but boss Brian McClennan has them firing on all cylinders once again, with just one defeat in their last seven matches, their last outing being a 30-22 win in the West Yorkshire derby against Bradford.

It's a stark contrast to Hull who have won three of their last fourteen matches and Airlie Birds coach Richard Agar knows it is going to be another difficult one this time around.

"If they breach your defensive line they tend to convert it into 6 points, it's not just the fact they have an excellent goal kicker but so much speed and the support play is so good and that provides a massive challenge for our defence.

"I thought when we went there early in the year it was a game that was symptomatic of a lot of our games this year. We were up to our necks in it come half time and we have what I can only describe as a brain explosion, we were trying to pick the guys up at half time when we could have been in a position with wind in our sales. Unfortunately for us, again there was to many individuals errors on the night and a team like Leeds they tend to hurt you."

Young hooker Danny Houghton added, "You know what you are going to get with Leeds and you have to score points. They are going to score twenty points, however well you defend, so we're going to have to attack well and match them if we are to get the result.

"I think the confidence here has been high for a while now, but going into the games we have just made a few poor errors. We all know what we are capable of and we know we can get the result, so it is up to us to do that against Leeds this weekend," he said.

It will be the third time both sides have gone head to head this season. On the previous two occasions Hull have travelled to Headingley enjoying a 20-16 victory during pre-season, before Leeds took their revenge with a 46-16 win back in May.

In fact, Leeds have by far the better head to head record of the two sides, having won 17 of the 27 meetings between both sides.

Nevertheless, the match that still lives long in the memory of the Hull fans is the Challenge Cup Final of 2005 when Hull clinched a famous 25-24 victory at the Millennium Stadium in Wales.

A late Paul Cooke try made the scores 24-23 to Leeds before the conversion from the boot of Danny Brough secured a slender victory for the Black and Whites.

Saturday's clash will also see Gareth Raynor and Jamie Thackray face their former club.

Hull's young winger Jodie Broughton is also currently on-loan from the Rhinos.

Tickets are rapidly selling out fast for this eagerly awaited clash, particularly in the East and South Stands, so fans wanting to watch the match this weekend are advise to purchase their tickets now from the ticket office to avoid disappointment.

SQUADS
HULL FC: Shaun Berrigan, Jodie Broughton, Mike Burnett, Danny Houghton, Graeme Horne, Richard Horne, Josh Hodgson, Paul King, Tommy Lee, Dominic Maloney, Willie Manu, Sam Moa, Lee Radford, Gareth Raynor, Jamie Thackray, Danny Tickle, Chris Thorman, Richard Whiting, Kirk Yeaman

LEEDS: Scott Donald, Lee Smith, Keith Senior, Ryan Hall, Danny McGuire, Rob Burrow, Kylie Leuluai, Danny Buderus, Jamie Peacock, Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Ali Lauitiiti, Kevin Sinfield, Matt Diskin, Ryan Bailey, Carl Ablett, Luke Burgess, Ashley Gibson, Simon Worrall, Michael Ratu

HEAD 2 HEAD
HOME: played 13, won 5, drawn 0, lost 8, for 237, against 264
AWAY: played 14, won 4, drawn 1, lost 9, for 249, against 408
TOTAL: played 27, won 9, drawn 1, lost 17, for 486, against 672

LAST MEETING
Leeds 46-16 Hull FC- Headingley- 15,929 (Tue 26th May 09)

LAST FIXTURES
Sun 28th June-Halliwell Jones Stadium, Att: 9,170

Warrington (6) 24
T: M King 1, C Riley 1, B Harrison 1, P Wood 1
G: C Hicks 4,

Hull (6) 12
T: J Broughton 1, K Yeaman 1
G: D Tickle 2

Fri 26th June-Headingley Carnegie, Att: 17,824

Leeds (18) 33
T: R Hall 2, S Donald 1, R Burrow 1, J Jones-Buchanan 1,
G: K Sinfield 6
DG: L Smith 1

Bradford (8) 20
T: S Tadulala 1, P Deacon 1, S Menzies 1
G: P Deacon 4

Fri July 3, 2009
• Webb ruled out of Senior's 500th match
  

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