First up for a magical weekend of rugby league at Elland Road in Leeds was a desperate basement battle between current bottom side the London Broncos and the side just two points ahead of them in eleventh place, Hull FC.
Even a massive London win would not be sufficient to lift the Broncos above the Airlie Birds due to the chasm between the two teams’ points difference, and it was the Black and Whites who were handicapped by eight points on the coupon with the bookies expecting them to brin home the points and double the lead over their closest rivals for the wooden spoon.
With any potential relegation being determined by IMG and not table position, the only thing to play for was pride, and who would want the win enough to take the points.
It was crystal clear from the opening exchanges that this was a game between two poor sides who were low on confidence. A suicidal offload from Ligi Sao was followed by a late tackle from the Hull FC prop and on the third tackle from the resulting penalty Josh Rourke dropped his shoulder and went under his tackler to score from ten metres out. Oli Leyland added the conversion from a tight angle for 6-0.
Hull opened their account on ten minutes with Lewis Martin grounding in the left corner off a pinpoint Smith chip over the top into the corner. Jack Charles pulled his kick wide of the uprights, the black and whites still two adrift.
Harlem Globetrotters’ stuff from London saw them get their second try on twenty-five. A cross-field kick was caught by Rourke and flicked backwards to Hakim Miloudi before being caught by Jack Campagnolo to run closer to the sticks for a great try. Leyland added his second conversion of the game for a 12-4 lead.
Leyland kicked a forty-seventh minute penalty from right in front of the posts for a ten-point lead to the Broncos, the London side had resisted an early Hull onslaught and were taking the game to them.
Another penalty on sixty-three resulted in another Leyland penalty goal for 16-4, Hull now needing to score three times.
An Oli Leyland drop kick from close on seventy-one, taking a slight deflection on its way over, sealed the London win, their third of the season. Within a minute Josh Rourke leapt to take a Leyland cross-field kick to fall over the top of the Hull defender and drop over the line for his second try of the afternoon. Leyland added the conversion for 23-4.
With three minutes left, Leyland grabbed a try and goal for a personal points haul of seventeen points after a fend and break from Emmanuel Waine before the game ended in chaos with Denive Balmforth sin-binned for a late tackle while the sprinklers were switched on drenching the players.
A poor game between two poor sides as the curtain raiser for the Magic weekend leaves the two bottom sides on equal points going into the last five games of the season. London outplayed the Airlie Birds who are presently in an awful place, and now it is a clear race for who will avoid finishing the regular season outside the bottom spot.
London Broncos: Rourke (2T), Kershaw, Bassett, Natoli, Miloudi, Campagnolo (T), Leyland (T, 6/6 G, DG), Kennedy, Davis, Butler, Lovell, Adebiyi, Stock. Subs: Waine, Tison, Bienek, Jones. 18th Man: Macani.
Hull FC: Walker, Barron, Tuimavave, Briscoe, Martin (T), Charles (0/1 G), Smith, Ese’ese, Lane, Sao, Cartwright, Chamberlain, Aydin. Subs: Balmforth (SB on 80), Fash, Eseh, Jebson. 18th Man: Ruan.
Half-Time: 12-4.
Full-Time: 29-4.
Score Progression: 4-0, 6-0, 6-4, 10-4, 12-4 :HT: 14-4, 16-4, 17-4, 21-4, 23-4, 27-4, 29-4, (SB) :FT.
Lead Exchanges: London.
Referee: Liam Rush.
