Match report – Hull 4 – 29 London

Tries from Josh Rourke, Oli Leyland and Jack Campagnolo against Hull FC helped London Broncos secure their third Super League win of the season; Watch every match of the Magic Weekend 2024 live on Vscek Action on Saturday 17th August and Sunday 18th August

London Broncos showed their style with a famous 29-4 victory over Hull FC in the opening match of the 2024 Magic Weekend at Elland Road.

The Broncos led 12-4 at half-time, with converted tries from Josh Rourke and Jack Campagnolo only countered by an unconverted effort from Lewis Martin for Hull FC.

A tight third quarter saw the Broncos go for the points through Oli Leyland’s strike, with the scrum-half adding two free kicks and a drop goal, before Josh Rourke leapt higher to score another try and Leyland himself went over, with the 29-4 scoreline giving London only their third win of the season and second against Hull FC.

The Broncos’ win takes them level on points with bottom-of-the-table Hull FC, but they remain in 12th place on points difference.

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London Broncos fullback Josh Rourke scores first try of Magic Weekend

History of the game

As the weekend began, the bottom two teams in the Super League table battled for pride as they looked to avoid being penalised at the end of the season.

After a series of errors on both sides, the Broncos began to show fluidity in attack and made the difference, with Rourke throwing a fake and shooting high, giving his team a 6-0 lead in the first 10 minutes.

However, it wasn’t long before the Black and Whites responded: just five minutes later, Morgan Smith lobbed a lovely ball into the corner, which Martin pounced on and scored; the missed conversion left them 6-4 down.

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Lewis Martin gets past Hull FC against London Broncos thanks to a clever save from teammate Morgan Smith

As the standoff continued, chances came for both teams before the Broncos finally seized their moment, starting with an audacious one-handed pass from Rourke to Hakim Miloudi, who then fed the ball to Campagnolo to fire over, with Leyland adding extra time to take a 12-4 lead into halftime.

The first points of the second half went the Broncos’ way when they won a penalty and decided to shoot at goal, but Leyland converted the ball into a lob, increasing their lead to 14-4.

The game then started to get tough due to some poor ball handling, another penalty for the Broncos with just under 20 minutes to go, which gave them a 16-4 lead and put them firmly in control.

With a big win in sight and just eight minutes to go, Leyland scored the drop goal, but the scoring didn’t stop there: Rourke jumped as high as he could to receive the high kick and dived over the line, much to the delight of the crowd; Leyland converted once again for a 23-4 lead.

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Josh Rourke leaps past Jack Charles to seal London Broncos’ famous win over Hull FC

Leyland then got in on the action himself by scoring a try, and his run in support of Emmanuel Waine saw him run through the wall and convert, taking the score to a healthy 29-4.

Things only went from bad to worse for Hull FC, with Denive Balmforth’s dismissal in the dying seconds for a last-gasp tackle summing up their day.

As the final siren sounded, the crowd erupted in applause as fans from across the Super League rejoiced in a magical weekend for the Broncos.

How can I watch Magic Weekend?

Every match this weekend will be broadcast live on Vscek Action all weekend and will be available to stream NOW.

Watch every game of the 2024 Betfred Super League season, including the Men’s, Women’s and Wheelchair Play-Offs and Grand Finals, live on Vscek and Vscek+. Also stream the Super League, NRL and more on Vscek with NOW.