Hull FC 19-18 Leeds: Late Marc Sneyd drop goal defeats Rhinos in Super League
Last Updated: 20/04/18 6:06am
Leeds lost out to a late drop goal for the second week running as Marc Sneyd's one-pointer earned Hull FC a dramatic 19-18 victory at the KCOM Stadium.
The Black and Whites looked in total command when they went 14-0 ahead early in the second half through two tries from Jake Connor and one from Bureta Faraimo.
Leeds, who were undone by Sam Tomkins' drop goal as Wigan shaded them 9-8 last week, hit back strongly with three quickfire tries courtesy of Ryan Hall, Joel Moon and a penalty try to edge 18-14 ahead.
Hull refused to give in, though, and they struck again as Carlos Tuimavave touched down and although Sneyd missed his conversion attempt, he was on hand a few minutes later in the 76th minute to nail the crucial drop goal.
The narrow victory gave the Black and Whites their first win over the Rhinos in 11 matches, maintained their unbeaten home record this year and moved them up to fourth place in the Betfred Super League table.
Hull had plenty of power up front with Sika Manu, Mark Minichiello and Dean Hadley all back in the side and they had the best of the early stages with Sneyd wasting a good chance when he failed to find a wide-open Josh Griffin on the left.
Scott Taylor then had an effort disallowed for obstruction before the hosts opened the scoring in the 13th minute through Connor, shortly after Jamie Jones-Buchanan, celebrating his 400th Leeds appearance, conceded a penalty deep inside Hull's half by tackling Jamie Shaul in the air when he was gathering a high kick.
Good work by Hadley and man of the match Albert Kelly created space for Connor and he then hit a strong, committed line past Moon and dummied a pass out wide before touching down, although Sneyd missed the conversion attempt.
Leeds were struggling to break down Hull and had to do a lot of defending, but they had a decent chance just before the half-hour mark when Ash Handley was held just short of the line thanks to some good work from Mickey Paea, while Brett Ferres also had a try chalked off for a forward pass.
The Black and Whites doubled their lead in the 34th minute as the Leeds defence finally buckled again after some heavy pressure, Kelly's neat offload setting up the score for Faraimo, with Sneyd once again off target with his kick.
Connor went over for his second try in the 44th minute with almost a carbon-copy of his first effort, Kelly once again supplying the pass, and Sneyd nailed his two-pointer this time.
Leeds looked down and out at the time, but they were handed a lifeline in the 51st minute as Hall snaked his arm out to find the whitewash in the left corner after being teed up by Handley following a slick passing move.
Kallum Watkins comfortably added the extras and he was on target again 10 minutes later when Moon squeezed over from Richie Myler's pass, the video referee ruling out a possible obstruction by Ferres in the build-up.
The Rhinos were, remarkably, in front two minutes later after they were awarded a penalty try when Josh Bowden was ruled to have made contact with his boot with Matt Parcell as he dropped the ball as he attempted to score. Watkins slotting over the conversion.
Hull battled their way back into the game, however, and scored their fourth try in the 71st minute when Fetuli Talanoa did well to collect Kelly's high cross-field kick and Tuimavave was on hand to touch down.
Sneyd appeared to have blown a great chance to win it for Hull when he missed the relatively simple conversion attempt, but he held his nerve four minutes later with a confident drop goal after Taylor and Paea had both done well to set up the field position.
