Broncos claim Magic Weekend win over Hull FC

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

The Broncos took a 12-4 lead in at the break, converted tries from Josh Rourke and Jack Campagnolo only being answered by an unconverted Lewis Martin effort for Hull FC.

A close third quarter saw the Broncos opt for points through the boot of Oli Leyland, the scrum-half adding two penalties and a drop goal, before Rourke jumped highest to add another try and Leyland himself went over to give London just their third win of the season and second over Hull FC.

The victory moves London level on six points with Hull FC at the bottom of the table but they stay in 12th due to points difference.

Story of the game

Opening the weekend of action, Super League’s two bottom-placed sides were engaged in a battle for pride, the aim being to avoid the wooden spoon come the end of the season.

After a series of errors from both sides, the Broncos started to look fluid in attack and made it count, Rourke throwing the dummy and barrelling over as his side went 6-0 up within the first 10 minutes.

However, it was not long until the Black and Whites hit back as, just five minutes later, Morgan Smith sent a lovely chip to the corner for Martin to pounce on and score, the missed conversion putting them 6-4 behind.

As the arm wrestle ensued, chances came and went for both teams before the Broncos finally took their moment, starting with an audacious one-handed offload from Rourke to Hakim Miloudi, the winger then sending it onto Campagnolo to go over, with Leyland adding the extras to give them a 12-4 lead at half-time.

The first points of the second half went the way of the Broncos when they were awarded a penalty and opted to kick for goal, Leyland slotting it over to increase their advantage to 14-4.

The game then started to get scrappy as poor handling crept in, another penalty for the Broncos with just under 20 minutes remaining taking them 16-4 up and putting them firmly in control.

With a big victory in sight and just eight minutes remaining, Leyland then slotted over the drop goal but their scoring was not done there, Rourke jumping highest to collect the high kick and diving over the line much to the delight of the crowd, Leyland once again converting for a 23-4 lead.

Leyland then wanted to get in on the try-scoring action too, his support run for a breaking Emmanuel Waine seeing him cross the whitewash and convert to bring the scoreline to a healthy 29-4.

Things only went from bad to worse for Hull FC, the sin-binning of Denive Balmforth in the final seconds for a late hit summing up their day.

With the final hooter, the crowd erupted in cheers as fans from across Super League delighted in the Broncos enjoying their Magic Weekend.

What they said

London Broncos director of rugby and performance Mike Eccles:

“It’s been coming. We just won it through grit and effort.

“I’m just really proud of them. If we do get off the bottom, it would be our biggest achievement.

“It’s been a long journey to get to the point we’re at now where we’re at least competitive, and this is literally magic.”

Hull FC interim head coach Simon Grix:

“We came up against a London team who really are together.

“I’ve got no complaints about the result, just really disappointed.

“There is a lot of talk in our group, but the actions don’t back it up.”

How can I watch Magic Weekend?

Every match of the weekend will be shown live on Sky Sports Action across the weekend and will be available to stream on NOW.

Watch every match of the 2024 Betfred Super League season, including the play-offs and men’s, women’s and wheelchair Grand Finals, live on Sky Sports and Sky Sports+. Also stream Super League, the NRL and more from Sky Sports with NOW.