Reserves, Sunday 30 June 2024 (1pm)
Chanterlands Avenue, Hull
Hull FC 60-4 Leigh Leopards
Leopards Reserves travelled to take on Hull FC at the Hull Sports Centre knowing that a positive result would put them in the mix for a top-six spot.
Hull FC fielded a strong side including former NRL star Jed Cartwright, who moved to the Super League earlier this month from Newcastle Knights.
The home side ran in 11 tries, six in the first half and a further five in the second, as they played with refreshing enterprise and invention on attack.
Liam Tindall, Callum Kemp, Callum Shaw and fullback Davy Litten each scored two tries while Kemp added eight conversions for a 24-point personal haul.
Stuart Littler’s men initially matched their strong opponents in the opening phases of the match but fell behind as left wing Joe Ward scored in the corner for the hosts. Hull FC proved to be a tough side to match and found their second score of the game when Matthew Laidlaw ran through a gap in the Leopards’ defence, allowing Denive Balmforth to score under the posts. Kemp kicked his first conversion.
Tindall scored his first try in the right corner after latching onto Litten’s offload. Despite the Leopards’ efforts, the home team scored a further three tries inside the first 40 minutes through Tindall once more, who did well to take a powerful pass from Cartwright, before Kemp and Kye Armstrong ensured that Hull held a 32-0 lead at half-time.
The Leopards put on a stronger second half display, but an acrobatic finish from Shaw furthered FC’s advantage and just two minutes later, Kemp converted his own try for the second time of the afternoon. But the Leopards responded well to this set-back as Tom Nisbet made a powerful breakaway before being brought down by a big hit, earning valuable territory for Littler’s side.
When Hull reclaimed possession, they crossed the whitewash once more, as Litten scored a solo try after carrying the ball from his own half.
Leopards then put their hosts under pressure and forced Hull into making a knock-on to win a scrum just 20 metres from the line but failed to make the pressure count.
On 54 minutes, TJ Boyd made one of the tackles of the match as he prevented the home side from scoring a certain try before making an explosive break to bring his team to halfway.
With just 13 minutes left on the clock, Shaw saw his side past the half-century mark as he scored his second of the game in the left corner, before Litten also scored his second try with an outstretched arm.
A clean break from Valu Tane Bentley won Leigh valuable territory with just two minutes left to go in the contest. Leopards finally made their efforts count with the final score of the afternoon as Matty Horrocks dotted the ball down for an unconverted try.
Leopards Reserves are next in action on Saturday 13 July when Huddersfield Giants are the visitors to Sutton Park (noon kick-off).
Hull FC
1 Davy Litten; 2 Liam Tindall, 3 Callum Shaw, 4 Harvey Barron, 5 Joe Ward; 6 Kye Armstrong, 7 Callum Kemp; 8 Matty Laidlaw, 12 Denive Balmforth, 10 Will Gardiner, 17 Jed Cartwright,11 Lennon Clark, 13 Zach Jebson
Bench: Jordon Baker, Owen Haldenby, Jeylan, Hodgson, Will Kirby
Tries: Ward (9), Balmforth (16), Tindall (22, 28), Kemp (33, 46), Armstrong (40), Shaw (44, 67), Litten (48, 73)
Goals: Kemp 8/ 11
Leopards
1 TJ Boyd; 5 Liam Copland, 3 Tom Nisbet, 29 Ralph Wood, 2 Alfie Whittle; 6 Ben Tyrer, 7 Matty Horrocks; 8 Ryan Lockett, 9 Tommy Porter, 10 Luke Sutcliffe, 11 Callum Disley, 12 Bailey Pemberton, 13 Valu Tane Bentley.
Bench: 14 Daniel Tabern, 28 Harry Ashworth, 20 Sam Bardsley, 27 Reece Stanton. 18th player: Scott Finney (not used)
Try: Horrocks (80)
Goal: Tyrer 0/ 1
Scoring sequence: 4-0, 10-0, 16-0, 20-0, 26-0, 32-0 (ht) 38-0, 44-0, 48-0, 54-0, 60-0, 60-4
Referee: C Hughes; Touch judges: P Smith and L Grundy