Leeds 38 Hull 22: Agar given Leeds masterclass

Neil Barraclough
Saturday 07 June 2008 00:00 BST
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Scott Donald, Gareth Ellis and Rob Burrow all crossed twice as Leeds demonstrated their supreme attacking potency to produce a stunning second-half comeback and inflict Hull's fourth successive Super League defeat.

Richard Agar, the new Hull coach, appeared to have worked more of the magic that saw his side win their Challenge Cup quarter-final at Bradford last week.

However, Leeds recovered with some sparkling rugby that included three superb tries in a 10-minute spell at the start of the second half.

Keith Senior's try just before half time started the resurgence before Burrow scampered through early in the second half. Donald quickly followed with an 80-metre dash that has few rivals in its claims for try of the season, before Ellis crossed to level the scores.

Danny Tickle added a penalty to push Hull back ahead but Brent Webb's pass sent Donald diving over in the corner and Ellis finished Kevin Sinfield's break as Leeds began to cut loose. Burrow then broke the line from the restart to compound the visitors' misery.

Hull had controlled the majority of the first half despite missing eight regulars. Adam Dykes, their Australian scrum-half, could have opened the scoring inside the first five minutes only to knock on while trying to intercept Danny McGuire's pass.

Dykes rectified that mistake by producing three outstanding kicks to create each of the visitors' tries before the interval.

Willie Manu was the first to benefit followed by Graeme Horne who produced a powerful surge to force his way through. Headingley was silenced when Tickle gathered the third of Dykes' pinpoint punts but the hosts began to rumble into life and ultimately proved far too strong.

Leeds: Webb; Hall, Ablett, Senior, Donald; McGuire, Burrow; Leuluai, Diskin, Bailey, Anselme, Ellis, Sinfield. Substitutes: Tansey, Scruton, Burgess, Jones-Buchanan.

Hull: Byrne; Sing, Horne, Yeaman, Briscoe; Hall, Dykes; Dowes, Houghton, Carvell, Manu, Radford, Tickle. Substitutes: Wheeldon, Burnett, Dale, Thackray.

Referee: B Thaler (Wakefield).

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