Rudderless shambles as Leigh humiliate Hull on home turf
AND FANS ARE SUPPOSED TO WATCH THIS RUBBISH?
Hull FC produced an embarrassing performance on their home ground once again as Leigh Leopards ran away with an emphatic 54-4 victory. The Black and Whites were woeful throughout the contest.
Defensively, they were all over the place, and in attack, they were rudderless.
There was no shape to their sets and no fronting up the tackle, with Tony Smith’s side humiliated by the Leythers, who were missing four of their most influential players, Edwin Ipape, John Asiata, Lachlan Lam and Tom Amone, to injury.
Little did it matter, though, with the away side fast, direct, and crisp in their play, with Hull having no answer in what was a dreadful account.
Leigh did the damage in the first half.
As always, Gareth O’brien was excellent, linking on both edges to devastating effect, with Matt Moylan and Hull-born half-back Ben Mcnamara also impressing.
They combined to great effect and kept the scoreboard ticking, with Brad Dwyer doing his bit at hooker.
It was a woeful start from the
Black and Whites, who welcomed back five players to their side.
Liam Sutcliffe, Jack Brown and Franklin Pele returned from suspension, with Liam Tindall making his competitive debut for the club and Cam Scott drafted in off the bench.
However, it was Tindall’s error that gave Leigh the first opportunity as the winger stepped into touch following a kick he could have, at least at first glance, let go.
Leigh made it count, with Umyla Hanley scoring in the right corner.
The Leythers then hit Hull on the other flank, with Josh Charnley finishing strongly to score.
On the back of a Leigh error, Hull responded through Tex Hoy, who was the only player in Smith’s side to show any life.
However, on the next set, Fa’amanu Brown’s high kick was caught in the in-goal, and Leigh didn’t waste their next chance to hit the home side.
Playing on the front foot, they got quick play the balls and rampaged downfield, with Ricky Leutele cutting back on the inside to score. Robbie Mulhern then crashed over in what was a really soft try, before Ben Mcnamara touched down on his return to his former club.
Things got even worse as Pele was sin-binned for a late hit on the passer. Moylan then added a penalty goal in the final action of the first half.
The second half started in similar fashion. Nu Brown broke the line, but Hull couldn’t finish the chance.
At the other end, Leigh made no mistake, with Oliver Holmes adding two quick-fire tries, the first a pick up from a loose ball and the second a dash to the line.
Hull tried to salvage something late on, with Hoy breaking the line, but it came to no avail.
Leigh then showed the difference in class once again as Moylan carved through to score.
Leutele then got his second with the centre carving through for the final score, with the boos ringing around the MKM Stadium after fulltime.