Rhinos come from behind

Leeds fought their way back from a surprise 18-point deficit to record a 38-22 Super League victory against Hull, their 14th win of the season.

The Rhinos, who maintain their six-point lead over St Helens, looked completely out of sorts in the first half, with Richard Agar's patched-up Hull side fully deserving of their 18-4 interval lead.

But winger Scott Donald ran in an 80-metre try early in the second half, one of six from the runaway leaders, as Leeds transformed the match in front of a 16,000-strong Headingley crowd.

Donald, Rob Burrow and Gareth Ellis all scored twice in the second half with captain Kevin Sinfield kicking five goals on the way to becoming the second highest scorer in the club's 113-year history.

Leeds took the opportunity to rest Great Britain captain Jamie Peacock's cut elbow while the late withdrawal of Gareth Raynor and Danny Washbrook took Hull's number of absentees to eight.

But the 11th-placed Black and Whites carried on from their shock Challenge Cup win at Bradford by racing into an 18-0 lead, with second rower Willie Manu proving a handful alongside the kicking skills of Australian half-back Adam Dykes.

All three of their first-half tries stemmed from the boot of Dykes, with Manu pouncing for the first after nine minutes when Leeds right winger Ryan Hall fumbled a towering kick.

Centre Graeme Horne then profited from Keith Senior's failure to drop on a rolling ball to score Hull's second nine minutes later.

Four minutes later, Danny Tickle plucked the ball out of the air following another pinpoint Dykes kick. The loose forward's third conversion made it 18-0 and the prospect of a major upset was on the cards.

The champions could not compete at that stage, with hooker Matt Diskin turned onto his back when Leeds eventually breached Hull's defensive line.

Pressure

However, Leeds maintained their pressure and it paid off when Senior powered his way over.

Sinfield missed the extras, however, and Hull then extended their lead with a Tickle penalty goal five minutes into the second half.

But they then conceded a goal-line drop-out from the re-start, with a break from Burrow resulting, finally, in a Leeds response.

His effort was bettered moments later by Donald's, the Australian receiving the ball deep inside his own half before racing up the left touchline and cutting inside to leave a trail of defenders in his wake.

Having missed with two easier efforts, Sinfield converted to bring up the 1,885th point of his career and go past Joe Thompson in the club's all-time list.

Leeds were on a roll and, when Dykes was sin-binned for a professional foul after 54 minutes, they immediately took advantage to score their fourth try.

Great Britain second rower Ellis proved unstoppable after taking Danny McGuire's pass 10 metres out from the line and Sinfield's second goal tied the scores.

Hull nevertheless managed to edge back in front after 59 minutes with a second penalty from Tickle.

But Leeds hit the front for the first time two minutes later when Donald took Webb's long pass to score his second try.

Sinfield then broke clear to get Ellis over for his second try and Burrow grabbed his second after collecting a loose ball and racing clear to touch down.