Sezer stars as Hull FC stun Leigh with early flurry
Leigh (0) 12
Tries: Ipape, Trout Goals: McNamara 2
Hull FC (26) 26
Tries: Cust, Ese'ese, Martin, Eseh Goals: Sezer 5
Scrum-half Aidan Sezer marked his 250th career game by captaining Hull FC to a victory at Leigh that ended their four-match losing run in Super League.
Sezer's kicking was near-flawless, with three conversions and two penalties as the Black & Whites dominated their hosts in the first half to open up a 26-point lead.
Cade Cust, Herman Ese'ese, Lewis Martin and Sam Eseh all breached the Leopards' defence without reply before the interval to secure a platform for Hull FC to climb to fifth in the table.
Third-placed Leigh fought back in the final 20 minutes with tries by Edwin Pape and Owen Trout lending some respectability to the scoreline, but it was not enough to stave off defeat.
Having fought out a thrilling 22-22 tie during their first meeting of the season in March, it was hardly surprising that the two sides looked evenly matched again during an end-to-end opening 10 minutes – but from then until half-time it was all Hull.
The visitors capitalised on Robbie Mulhern's stray pass well inside Leopards territory and Cust pierced a gap in their defence to cross for the opening score before Will Pryce's burst for the line enabled Ese'ese to power his way over.
Sezer's coolly-taken 35-yard penalty extended Hull's advantage further and, despite a spell of Leigh pressure, his successful captain's challenge against a ball steal enabled the Black & Whites to break again.
Another weaving run from Pryce set up Martin in the corner and, with Sezer slotting a more routine kick after Trout was harshly penalised for a high tackle on the scrum-half, the home side were looking ragged.
Leigh's hopes of reaching half-time without sustaining further damage were dashed right on the hooter as Sezer darted through once again to set up Eseh under the posts for Hull's fourth try to make it 26-0 at the break.
Adrian Lam's men worked to respond after the turnaround, repeatedly gaining territory with no end product, although Ipape and Alec Tuitavake were both held up close to their target.
A glimmer of hope materialised for the Leopards on the hour mark, when the pressure told as Ipape broke through, diving over between the posts and it needed smart defending by Zak Hardaker to prevent Trout from getting the ball down again soon afterwards.
Trout was not to be denied, however, collecting Ben McNamara's pass to add his name to the scoresheet after Lachlan Lam's crossfield 40-20 kick had kept Leigh in the ascendancy.
Hull still had to battle to keep the home side out after storming breaks by Bailey Hodgson and Josh Charnley, but the clock was always against Leigh – who missed an opportunity to make up ground on the top two.
The only negatives for the visitors were injuries to Cust, who went off after taking a blow to the ribs, and ex-Leopards loose forward John Asiata, who was replaced at half-time because of a leg strain.
Hull FC head coach John Cartwright told BBC Radio Humberside:
"The first 15 minutes were a real arm wrestle, they probably had the better of us and we were kicking from deep in our half but we didn't panic, we stuck at it.
"We got a bit of decent ball and [Aidan] Sezer was at his very best on his 250th. Will Pryce had probably one of his best games for the club, Cade [Cust] did a great job while he was out there and we looked really slick.
"We created a lot of opportunities and tonight we were able to ice them. To be able to go out and compete and attack the way they did was good to see – I know we're capable of it, tonight was nice and clinical.
"While we gave up a couple of tries, it was more to do with losing our way a little bit with the ball, but there was a lot of scrambling and try-saving in that second half too. I'm really pleased with the way they toughed it out."
Leigh: Hodgson, McIntosh, Niu, Hanley, Brand, McNamara, Lam, Ofahengaue, Ipape, Mulhern, Trout, O'Neill, Liu.
Interchanges: Hughes, Tuitavake, Davis, Charnley.
Hull FC: Pryce, Martin, Litten, Briscoe, Barron, Cust, Sezer, Ese'ese, Bourouh, Knight, Hardaker, Chamberlain, Asiata.
Interchanges: Ashworth, Balmforth, Eseh, Laidlaw.
Referee: Tom Grant
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