Hull’s long wait for a victory at Leeds goes on – and they will have surely never had a better chance to end their Headingley hoodoo than here.
Who knows, had one or two of this game’s more questionable decisions gone Hull’s way, their winless run at Emerald Headingley – which now stretches to 14 games – may have come to an end.
But in the end, two tries to both Kallum Watkins and Tom Briscoe ensured Leeds retained their stranglehold over Hull at a redeveloped Headingley, which opened its doors to supporters for the first time since the renovation of the stadium began.
As well as scoring two tries, Watkins also provided a magnificent assist for Briscoe to make it 20-6 – and at that point, it looked as though it would be a comfortable night’s work at the office for Leeds.
But to their credit, Hull fought back well and set up a thrilling finale courtesy of tries for Jordan Abdull and Fetuli Talanoa.
FC, however, could not find the decisive score – and their stuttering start to the season continues, with Lee Radford’s side now having just two wins from their opening five games.
The first half was marred by a controversial moment in the minutes approaching the break when, having appeared to have scored a perfectly legitimate try through Josh Griffin, the play was pulled back for an apparent obstruction on Leeds forward Carl Ablett.
At that stage, it would have made it 10-10 with a kick to come, but instead, Hull trailed at the break 10-6.
That deficit was doubled via tries for Watkins and Briscoe, and though Hull kept fighting, they were unable to get over the line in the final moments.
