John Cartwright has already enjoyed some wonderful moments as Hull FC coach and transformed the club’s fortunes in just three months in charge, but this win at Leigh could well turn out to be his finest victory yet.
There is no escaping the fact that after a wonderful start to 2025, Hull have endured a difficult few weeks. Injuries and a loss of form have resulted in them exiting the Challenge Cup at the hands of their biggest rivals and tumbling outside the playoff places as the midway point of the season approaches.
But this was an emphatic return to form at a ground where away victories are hard to come by. The Leigh coach, Adrian Lam, had joked this week that their opponents here were a carbon copy of how his side play – perhaps in no small part due to the fact that four of the FC side were Leigh players as recently as last season.
And in truth Leigh were beaten at their own game. Hull were magnificent, 26-0 ahead by half-time and while they didn’t score a point after the break, they really didn’t need to. Two late Leigh tries were nothing more than consolation as the Black and Whites returned not only to form, but into the Super League playoff places.
“We’ve put some consistent footy together against a side I rate highly,” Cartwright said. His side suffered another worrying injury to a key individual, with John Asiata to be sent for scans on a hamstring injury, but that should not take the edge off a very encouraging night.
Anyone Cartwright asks to play out of position, they duly deliver. Tries from Cade Cust and Herman Ese’ese gave the visitors some early dominance, and they didn’t relent. Lewis Martin finished a fine Will Pryce break to extend that lead further, before a decisive blow right on half-time when Sam Eseh punctured another gap in the Leigh defensive line. Aidan Sezer, on his 250th career appearance, converted all four tries and kicked a penalty to open up an unassailable lead at the interval. The Leopards, woefully under par, had been comprehensively outplayed.
“I just didn’t see that coming,” Lam said. “It was disappointing in every area, really soft and just not what we’ve built this season on so far.”
There were improvements by Leigh after the break, but by then Hull had lost Asiata and playmaker Cust, and were defending well enough to ensure that their lead never looked threatened.
It wasn’t until the final quarter that Leigh finally opened their account when Edwin Ipape crossed from dummy-half, before Owen Trout followed with a try of his own six minutes later. However, even at that stage, it was obvious Hull had done more than enough when it mattered earlier in the evening.
