Match Report: Hull FC (28) vs London Broncos (24)

Kick off was at 3:02pm, with the Broncos kicking off left to right. The game began promisingly for London with a back and forth first 10 minutes with visible improvement from the beginning of the first two matches of the season. Despite a Rhys Kennedy penalty given away in the 4^th minute, this game certainly looked like it could go either way. Moreover, London’s hard work paid off in the 13^th minute. A fantastic 40-20 chip through by James Meadows gave London excellent ball position and consequently, London scored their second try of their 2024 Super League campaign after James Meadows finishes off the opportunity which he started.

In the 16^th minute a high tackle on James Meadows gave London even more reason to believe that they can leave the MKM Stadium with a winning result, but a Rhys Kennedy incorrect play of the ball gave Hull the ball back. It can be argued that this change in play was the beginning of the turn of London’s fortunes in the first half, with a try being scored by Nick Staveley and converted by Darnell McIntosh in the 19^th minute- Hull 6- London 4.

Unfortunately, the trouble didn’t stop here for London. Despite a Hull FC try being disallowed in the 22^nd minute and Storey intercepting a pass which was guaranteed a try in the 25^th minute, Hull FC were well on top of play and had their efforts rewarded with another try in the 29^th minute after a goal line drop out from London, which was once more converted by McIntosh- Hull 12- London 4.

After these two quick try’s for Hull the game appeared to stabilise, with both Hull and London not making enough ground to test either try-line. It was in the 34^th minute, however, that London felt as though they could get themselves back into the game after a high tackle on Oli Leyland and yellow card for Matty Russell. With a man advantage and with the ball 10 metres from the Hull FC try-line there wasn’t a better presented opportunity for the Broncos to get a score before half time. However, it was not to be. Jordan Williams’ try gets pulled back after a TMO review for crossing and then Oli Leyland throws a pass which gets intercepted by Lewis Martin, who proceeds to run the length of the pitch and score Hull’s 3^rd try of the half. Off the kick-off, Hull knock the ball on, but it is too little too late as the siren goes for half time. Hull FC 16- London Broncos 4.

To begin the second-half, London knew that they needed to score first if they were to have any chance of closing the gap on the score line but came so very close to losing any opportunity of fighting back into the match. Off the kick-off there is some fancy hands by Hull FC, and they make a break off a missed tackle by Jacob Jones which so nearly turned into 4 points for the home side, but the final pass to finish off the move was forward to the relief of the Broncos.

From this point, the pressure was all on the Broncos to deliver a try- and this is exactly what they did. A cheeky chip through by James Meadows was finished off by Lee Kershaw for the winger to get his first Super League try of 2024 and to make things even better, Leyland slotted the conversion from a near impossible angle with the ball bouncing off the post on its way through the uprights. Hull FC 16- Broncos 10.

Between the 45^th- 52^nd minute, it was once more both sides going toe to toe and neither budging. Within this time, there was a knock on by Robbie Storey and a penalty given away by Marcus Stock, but Hull still couldn’t convert these opportunities into anything more than kicking the ball back to London on their 5^th set. However, whenever one of these toe-to-toe situations occur there always must be one team to find a way through, which on this occasion was London through a magical James Meadows kick, caught and scored by Hakim Miloudi. However, the conversion was missed, still giving Hull the narrow lead. Hull FC 16- London Broncos 14.

Much similarly to the first half, when London looked on top, Rhys Kennedy gave away another penalty- an opportunity taken by Hull as Fa’amanu Brown runs the ball in unopposed and with another converted kick from McIntosh, FC extend their lead to 22-14.

Despite the score, Hull made a mistake off the kick off, knocking the ball dead and forcing themselves to kick the ball to London from underneath their own posts which London make the most of. Despite it not coming from the exact passage of play from the drop out, London gains a scrum off a knock on by Hull FC 5m out and Hakim Miloudi scores his second try of the afternoon in the 60^th minute, and the missed conversion by Leyland left the score Hull 22-18.

The second biggest heart wrenching moment for a Broncos fan this afternoon came in the 66^th minute, when Hull put together some excellent play and one of their players, with a clear path to the try-line, knocks the ball on 1m out which was recovered by Kershaw.

After more back and forth play heading into the final 5 minutes of the match, Robbie Storey has a moment of brilliance. With Hull putting the pressure onto London and trying to finish the Broncos off, Storey makes a fantastic interception about 10m outside of the Broncos try-line and runs the length to put London into the lead with only a matter of minutes left! Elated, the few London fans that made the journey up to Hull were heard shouting and cheering over the top of the 10,000+ Hull FC fans which came to see their team play. Oli Leyland converted his kick, and the score was Hull FC 22- London 24.

Despite London’s elation, it did not last. Oli Leyland goes for a kick in the Hull FC half which goes out of play, giving Hull the ball back with 3 minutes left. From here, the home side work their way down through the Broncos half and Morgan Smith scored the winning try for the home side and with McIntosh running down the clock before making his successful conversion, the game finished Hull FC 28- London 24.