Betfred Super League Round 22
MKM Stadium, Hull
Saturday 10 August 2025 (5:30pm)
Hull FC 18-12 Leigh Leopards
Leopards came up with a below par performance on their second trip of the season to the MKM Stadium and suffered the consequences, damaging their hopes of challenging Borough rivals Wigan Warriors for second spot in the process.
Fighting back from a lifeless first half show which saw them trail 12-0 at the interval, Leopards produced their best spell of the game on the resumption to fight their way back to parity.
With the game on a knife edge Hull seized the initiative when a Leopards passing move broke down on halfway and Lewis Martin grabbed the opportunity, racing away for what proved the crucial score.
Martin, Super League’s leading try-scorer this season, had returned to the field bloodied and bandaged after a head knock, to claim his 21st touchdown of the year and his eighth in his last three games.
Zak Hardaker kicked his third goal to open up a six-point lead which the home side defended to the end to make it five points out of six against the Leopards this season.
Hardaker was one of four ex-Leigh players in the Hull ranks and came up with a highly influential role in the unfamiliar position of halfback while John Asiata dictated most of the home side’s attacks in the first half before suffering a recurrence of hamstring problems.
Leopards, who lost key forward Joe Ofahengaue after only seven minutes due to a hamstring injury, conceded first half tries to Cade Cust and Harvey Barron, both converted by Hardaker.
Bailey Hodgson, again arguably Leigh’s best player, had a 16th minute try ruled out by video referee Liam Rush for an obstruction in back play.
Leopards responded well to head coach Adrian Lam’s half-time team talk and briefly looked altogether more purposeful, as Lachlan Lam and then Gareth O’Brien both successfully took on the close range defence to score tries, that with two O’Brien conversions, tied the scores at 12-12.
But Martin’s opportunism turned the tide back Hull’s way and they held on in a tense finish to earn the points that kept their play-off hopes alive.
Hardaker was wide with a long-range penalty three minutes from the end and Leopards desperately kept the ball alive after the hooter sounded to no avail.
After Leeds’s runaway win at Castleford earlier in the day, Leopards slipped to fourth knowing that if Saints ended the weekend by winning at home to Huddersfield they’d end up fifth with five games to go.
Hull FC
Will Pryce; Harvey Barron, Tom Briscoe, Davy Litten, Lewis Martin; Zak Hardaker, Cade Cust; Herman Ese’ese, Amir Bourouh, Liam Watts, Jed Cartwright, Jordan Lane, John Asiata
Bench:
Yusuf Aydin, Jack Ashworth, Lloyd Kemp, Sam Eseh. 18th player Matty Laidlaw (not used)
Tries:
Cust (8), Barron (24), Martin (60)
Goals:
Hardaker 3/ 4
Leopards
Bailey Hodgson; Keanan Brand, Umyla Hanley, Tesi Niu, Josh Charnley; Gareth O’Brien, Lachlan Lam; Joe Ofahengaue, Edwin Ipape, Robbie Mulhern, Frankie Halton, Owen Trout, Isaac Liu
Bench:
Jack Hughes, Ethan O’Neill, Matty Davis, Ben McNamara. 18th player: Alec Tuitavake (not used)
Tries:
Lam (51), O’Brien (56)
Goals:
O’Brien 2/ 2
Scoring sequence:
6-0, 12-0 (ht) 12-6, 12-12, 18-12
Referee: Chris Kendall; Touch judges: N Horton & M Lynn; Video referee: Liam Rush; Reserve referee: J Kinsley; Timekeeper: M Hawkes; M Com: T Randerson
Attendance: 10, 866
Penalty count: 7-6
