Kallum Watkins and Tom Briscoe scored their first tries of the season to ensure a happy homecoming for Super League champions Leeds in a thrilling encounter with Hull.
Both sides had two tries disallowed as the Rhinos edged to a 20-16 victory on their first appearance at a partially-reconstructed Headingley since September.
Leeds led 20-6 after an hour but were forced to withstand a tremendous fightback before securing a 14th successive home win over Hull stretching back to September 2007.
The Rhinos have got back to winning ways thanks to two tries each for Kallum Watkins and Tom Briscoe #SLLeeHul pic.twitter.com/1CKGi4exZG
— Leeds Rhinos (@leedsrhinos) March 8, 2018
Lacking five first-choice players through injury or suspension, Hull had threequarter Jack Logan making his first appearance for almost two years, gave a debut to 20-year-old back rower Jordan Lane and a first start to Zimbabwe-born prop Masi Matongo.
And all showed up well, even though the visitors were all at sea in the first quarter and were fortunate to be only 10-0 behind.
Rhinos captain Watkins gave his side a fifth-minute lead when he leapt into the night sky to retrieve the ball from Richie Myler’s high kick and force his way over for his first try of the campaign.
✅ 2 tries✅ 2 goals✅ @Betfred MOM – voted by Our League Members pic.twitter.com/PwZVWSaF76
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) March 8, 2018
The England centre added the conversion and Leeds extended their lead 10 minutes later when Myler’s long, looping pass gave winger Briscoe an unopposed run to the corner for his first try of the season.
Briscoe had another try disallowed as the home side put the Hull defence under enormous pressure but Lee Radford’s men gradually worked their way into the contest and might have been in front at half-time after dominating the second quarter.
Loose forward Dean Hadley won the race to Marc Sneyd’s grubber kick to touch down on 28 minutes and Logan and centre Josh Griffin both had tries contentiously disallowed by video referee Phil Bentham.
But there was no denying Watkins on 54 minutes when he cut a superb line to take Myler’s short pass and burst through for his second try.
And there appeared to be no way back for Hull when Watkins worked Briscoe over for his second try five minutes later as Leeds opened up a three-score lead.
Hull were all over their opponents in the last 10 minutes, with Taylor again held up, but Leeds demonstrated resilience to preserve their lead.
