Hull beat
Leeds to win 2005 Challenge Cup

Paul Cooke touched down three minutes from time as Hull snatched the Powergen Challenge Cup from Leeds? grasp at the Millennium Stadium with a 25-24 win.

Hull had dominated proceedings as they chased a first cup success for 23 years but the game seemed up as Mark Calderwood and Marcus Bai scored to put Leeds ahead late on.

Yet Hull refused to give up and Cooke?s brilliant dummy created a hole for the decisive try and Danny Brough held his nerve to convert.

It was a rare error-filled performance from Leeds, whose decision to play injured Keith Senior backfired, but their late burst looked to have won the cup.

Motu Tony, Gareth Raynor and Richard Whiting tries had put Hull in control, but Calderwood?s effort on 67 minutes, his second of the match, seemed to have turned the tide until Cooke went over.

Hull started nervously and Leeds skipper Kevin Sinfield looked to test their back line, Nathan Blacklock filling in at full-back for the hospitalised Shaun Briscoe, with deep kicks at every opportunity.

The plan paid dividends in the 11th minute as Blacklock and Raynor both went for a high ball and collided.

The ball ran loose and although Mark Calderwood was denied the chance to touch down as Raynor pulled him back, video referee Bob Connolly awarded him a penalty try.

It was the Wigan-bound winger?s 32nd try in all competitions this season and was converted by Sinfield.

Hull responded positively to the setback and levelled the scores midway through the first half with a brilliant try from Tony.

Richard Whiting flicked Shayne McMenemy?s kick in his direction and the Kiwi improvised superbly, chipping the ball over the Leeds defence and beating Richie Mathers to the line to score. Danny Brough landed the conversion from out wide to tie the scores at 6-6.

The try restored Hull?s confidence and they began to look the more dangerous team. They had two tries disallowed, first when Kirk Yeaman was ruled to have knocked on as he ground the ball and then when Blacklock was ruled offside.

The pitch was cutting up and the players were struggling to keep their feet, but Hull looked the more comfortable.

Senior was removed at half-time but Leeds could not regain their composure and fell behind five minutes into the second half after a dreadful pass by Mathers was intercepted by Tony.

Cooke took up the attack and the ball was fed wide, Raynor applying the finishing touch in the corner after a smart pass by Blacklock. Brough converted nervelessly from the touchline.

But Leeds are made of stern stuff and hit back forcefully to level the match again when prop Danny Ward forced his way over and Sinfield added the extras.

Yet no sooner had they got back into the game than they switched off again, falling behind after a catastrophic blunder by Marcus Bai.

Bai swept up a Horne kick in the in-goal area well enough but inexplicably tried to offload and passed to Richard Whiting, who promptly touched down.

Brough converted and later added a drop goal for good measure but the game was far from over.

Leeds dug deep into their reserves and got themselves back into the game 13 minutes from time when Calderwood weaved through several tackles to score.

They quickly followed up with another try to reclaim the lead, Bai outjumping Tony to claim a Mathers kick and atone for his earlier blunder.

Sinfield, sporting a bandage after a head wound sustained last week reopened, converted both to give the Rhinos a 24-19 lead.

It was harsh on Hull, but they did not give up and deservedly got back in front after 77 minutes when Cooke dummied and found a hole to score. Brough?s conversion put them one point ahead and they clung on in a nervous last minute.

Hull: Tony, Blacklock, Yeaman, Whiting, Raynor, R. Horne, Brough, Dowes, Swain, Carvell, McMenemy, Kearney, Cooke. Replacements: Thackray, King, Chester, Saxton.

Leeds: Mathers, Calderwood, Walker, Senior, Bai, Sinfield, Burrow, Bailey, Diskin, Ward, Lauitiiti, McKenna, Ellis. Replacements: McGuire, Poching, Jones-Buchanan, Dunemann.

Hull: (6) 25 Tries: Tony, Raynor, Whiting Cooke Goals: Brough (4) Drop-goals: Brough

Leeds: (6) 24 Tries: Penalty, Calderwood, Ward, Bai Goals: Sinfield (4)

Referee: Steve Ganson (St Helens) Att: 74,000

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Great Britain centre Keith Senior accepted the blame for Leeds Rhinos? Powergen Challenge Cup defeat after his decision to defy a twisted ankle backfired on the Super League champions.

The 29-year-old Senior played with pain-killing injections but was a passenger for much of the first half and was withdrawn from the action at the interval as Hull went on to snatch a 25-24 victory at the Millennium Stadium.

?I?ve let myself down and I?ve let the team down,? he said. ?That?s the biggest thing that is going though my mind at the moment.

?The ankle?s been well all week and in the warm-up everything seemed fine. In hindsight, it might not have been the best thing to do but, when you have that decision to make, it?s not easy to pull out.?

Hull coach John Kear, a close friend of Senior following their Challenge Cup-winning feat with Sheffield Eagles in 1998, was shocked by the player?s appearance but Leeds coach Tony Smith insisted it was a gamble worth taking.

Senior had been carried from the field on a stretcher just eight days earlier after falling awkwardly in a tackle during the Rhinos? home League defeat by Bradford but was passed fit by the club?s medical staff.

?It just got worse as the game went on,? added Senior. ?It wasn?t one particular incident, it was a gradual process as the game went on. The injection wore off and it seized up.

?The pain just got so bad in the last 10 minutes of the half. They said just fight your way through to half-time and that?s what I did.?

Senior took his place in the stand for the second half but there was no end to his agony as Leeds suffered the heartbreak of Challenge Cup final defeat for the third time in six years but he admitted that there could be no complaints about the result this time.

?It is heart-breaking,? he said. ?The feelings that you go through reaching a final and having it taken away from you in the last few minutes. It?s the third time we?ve had this feeling.

?Against Bradford two years ago, we felt we were the better side and had played well enough to win but this time we didn?t stick to the game plan.

?Full credit to Hull, they capitalised on some of things that we couldn?t do. I think the better side won. They achieved the dream they?ve been after.?

Although Senior will be forced to miss the Rhinos? next match, a testing trip to Wigan on Friday, he is confident that he suffered no further damage to his right ankle and he hopes to be back in time to redeem himself.

Leeds are a point behind St Helens with three matches left of the regular season and Senior says Saturday?s defeat will give the team even more determination to retain their Super League title.

?This is going to hurt for a long time and it will always be in the memory,? he said. ?But we still have something to work on and it?s straight back to work on Tuesday. The focus is on Wigan on Friday so it doesn?t get any easier.

?It?s going to be very hard to pick ourselves up but it?s something that we need to do. The quicker we can get back playing, the quicker things can get back on track. Friday can?t come quick enough for the boys to put some things right.

?I?ll have to miss that game, though. Like I say, I feel as if I have let the side down and I don?t want to be in that position again.?

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