Teen Lumb shines as Leeds edge rivals Hull
HEADING into the game at the MKM Stadium, under-pressure Leeds Rhinos boss Rohan Smith found himself in a no-win situation.
Any kind of victory would be viewed as papering over the cracks, while a negative result did not bear thinking about.
The Rhinos avoided the ignominy of losing to a bruised and broken Hull FC but failed to convince in another lacklustre performance.
Leeds were fresh from four defeats in five games against some of the competition's better teams; Sunday's display would have done little to ease the fears of the club's fans who believe their team are a long way behind their traditional rivals.
The one saving grace was the performance of academy graduate Riley Lumb, the 19-year-old marking his Super League debut with a double. Smith deserves credit for putting his faith in the youngster on the right wing but there was precious little else in the way of positives for the visitors.
Cameron Smith scored the clinching try early in the second half and
Leeds did just about enough to see out their fifth win of the campaign.
The Rhinos host London Broncos next before away dates with Catalans Dragons and St Helens, two trips that could define their season and even Rohan Smith's tenure.
Strangely given the result, Hull may just be the happier side after taking a stride forward.
The Black and Whites had conceded 252 points in their previous five games but they showed a level of effort and commitment on Sunday that will encourage interim head coach Simon Grix. With a bit more composure in attack, they could have been celebrating just a second win of the campaign.
Morgan Smith was dragged into touch from the kick-off in an inauspicious start by Hull but the hosts gained confidence from a resolute defensive set and opened the scoring six minutes in.
After celebrating a knock-on by Justin Sangare with enthusiasm, the Black and Whites carved open Leeds' left edge through Jack Walker. The ex-Rhinos full-back dummied his way past Matt Frawley before passing back inside for Smith to finish and atone for his early error.
But that was as good as it got for the home side in a tense first half.
Hull lacked the quality to match their endeavour and went into the interval behind courtesy of two opportunistic efforts from Lumb.
The teenager was assured from the start and took the first chance that came his way at the top level.
Sangare kept the ball alive to create some space on the right edge and Lumb did the rest, arcing back inside before shrugging off poor attempts from Liam Sutcliffe and Walker to touch down.
After Rhyse Martin added the extras, Leeds lifted the tempo against a team that have a bad habit of conceding tries in clusters.
Hull were eventually unpicked with half-time approaching.
No player had created more tries than Brodie Croft in the opening eight rounds and he took his tally of assists to 11 with a well-weighted grubber kick that was finished by Lumb.
Hull appeared to have survived at first glance but the video footage showed Lumb had got a hand to the ball ahead of the scrambling Walker.
Hull made a positive start to the second half – helped by a sloppy error from Miller after fielding a kick close to the touchline – but they were unable to unlock a determined Leeds defence.
Lumb switched the momentum with a break from deep to give the Rhinos the field position to score the first try of the second period through Smith.
Walker was guilty of an unforced error coming away from his own line and he was punished as Smith took a short ball from Croft to slide over.
Martin maintained his perfect record from the tee to make it 18-6 but Leeds handed the initiative straight back to Hull with a sloppy error of their own.
Frawley and Alfie Edgell – just on in place of the injured Paul Momirovski – got in each other's way from the kick-off and the hosts took full advantage, Martin finishing from Walker's superb long pass.
The Rhinos thought they had restored their two-score lead when Frawley touched down under the posts, only for the video referee to rule that Walker had not stripped the ball from Andy Ackers' grasp.
Hull had hope at 18-12 heading into the final quarter but they failed to create a clear-cut opening in the face of strong defence.
Croft sent a drop-goal attempt well wide and Frawley kicked out on the full for the second time in the game as Leeds saw out an unconvincing win.
Hull FC: Walker, Martin, Chamberlain, Sutcliffe, Tindall, Smith, Charles, Ese'ese, Houghton, Brown, Lane, Sao, Cator. Substitutes: Pele, Gardiner, Moy, Aydin.
Leeds Rhinos: Miller, Lumb, Momirovski, Martin, Roberts, Croft, Frawley, Oledzki, Ackers, Sangare, McDonnell, Goudemand, Smith. Substitutes: Lisone, O'Connor, Ruan, Edgell. Referee: Liam Rush.