Lumb's debut double helps Leeds beat Hull

Betfred Super League

Hull FC (6) 12

Tries: Smith, Martin Goals: Charles 2

Leeds (12) 18

Tries: Lumb 2, Smith Goals: Martin 3

Teenager Riley Lumb scored two tries on his debut as Leeds Rhinos held on for a nervy win over Hull.

Morgan Smith’s score gave Hull an early lead, but a double from 19-year-old Lumb put Leeds 12-6 up at the break.

Cam Smith extended the Rhinos' advantage, but Lewis Martin hit back immediately as Leeds took a six-point lead into the final quarter.

Hull pounded away at the visitors' line, forcing a series of errors, but Rohan Smith's side hung on to secure a fourth straight win at the MKM Stadium.

After an inconsistent start to the campaign which saw Leeds follow three wins from four with three defeats from the next four, a fifth victory of the season leaves the Rhinos eighth - but within two points of third-placed Wigan.

For Hull, this was an eighth defeat from nine in Super League, which leaves them second-bottom.

But having shipped 50 points or more in four of their previous five matches, this was a much more encouraging display from a young side still searching for a head coach following Tony Smith’s exit.

After such a miserable start to the season, the omens did not look good when Hull surrendered possession straight from kick-off as Smith was bundled into touch.

But the stand-off gave Hull the rare luxury of an early lead when he was teed up by Jack Walker’s explosive break to run over unchallenged.

Lumb soon levelled in thrilling fashion, evading four Hull defenders with a slaloming run to cross for a dream score just 11 minutes into his first Super League start.

Luis Roberts’ acrobatic flying finish in the left corner was chalked off by the video referee for a leg in touch as the Rhinos' threat grew.

And they hit the front as Lumb's fairytale bow continued when he got a hand to Brodie Croft’s grubber kick to send Leeds in ahead at the break despite an error-prone first half.

Walker dropped a high kick to gift Leeds dangerous field position and Croft took advantage with a 13th try assist of the season, his short pass allowing Smith to punch a hole through the middle for Leeds’ third try to make it 18-6.

Hull could have folded, but straight away Leeds charitably coughed up an error of their own, spilling the kick-off catch into touch.

The hosts duly accepted their lifeline as Walker’s cut-out pass put Martin in at the right corner to cut the deficit to six.

Video referee Jack Smith intervened to strike off another Leeds score for a knock-on to keep Hull in touch.

Still in contention deep into the game - through a combination of good goalline defence and Leeds' handling errors, the hosts had the belief they have badly lacked this season.

Franklin Pele almost barged his way through, but a lack of cutting edge in attack, and the visitors' spirited defence, saw the Rhinos home.

Hull FC joint-interim coach Simon Grix told BBC Radio Humberside:

“I spoke with a few of the players in midweek about being better for longer and I think that we definitely were.

“I think everyone stepped up a bit, but we’re still not where we want to be. We want the two points at the end of the day, but effort-wise we weren’t beat, which is great.

“We moved the ball and got a share of possession which really helped us to start playing and we should gain a little bit of confidence off it.

“We didn’t get the points but plenty to take out of that one.”

Leeds Rhinos head coach Rohan Smith told BBC Radio Leeds:

“Overall I’m particularly pleased with a lot of the young kids and how they defended at the back end of that game when the game was on the line and there was a lot of

“The overall energy I thought was good today. I would have preferred a bit better execution of some of our stuff at times to apply a bit more pressure at sets, but overall we came to do a job against a very spirited and energetic team today and we got what we needed.”

Hull FC: Walker, Martin, Chamberlain, Sutcliffe, Tindall, Smith, Charles, Ese'ese, Houghton, Brown, Lane, Sao, Cator.

Interchanges: Aydin, Gardiner, Moy, Pele.

Leeds: Miller, Lumb, Momirovski, Martin, Roberts, Croft, Frawley, Oledzki, Ackers, Sangare, McDonnell, Goudemand, Smith.

Interchanges: Lisone, O'Connor, Ruan, Edgell.

Referee: Liam Rush.