Sezer stars as Hull get back to form with emphatic Super League win at Leigh
John Cartwright has already enjoyed some wonderful moments as Hull FC coach and transformed the club's fortunes in just three months in charge, but this win at Leigh could well turn out to be his finest victory yet.
There is no escaping the fact that after a wonderful start to 2025, Hull have endured a difficult few weeks. Injuries and a loss of form have resulted in them exiting the Challenge Cup at the hands of their biggest rivals and tumbling outside the playoff places as the midway point of the season approaches.
Related: Manchester United face urgent dilemma: ditch Amorim or revamp the squad | Jonathan Wilson
But this was an emphatic return to form at a ground where away victories are hard to come by. The Leigh coach, Adrian Lam, had joked this week that their opponents here were a carbon copy of how his side play – perhaps in no small part due to the fact that four of the FC side were Leigh players as recently as last season.
And in truth Leigh were beaten at their own game. Hull were magnificent, 26-0 ahead by half-time and while they didn't score a point after the break, they really didn't need to. Two late Leigh tries were nothing more than consolation as the Black and Whites returned not only to form, but into the Super League playoff places.
'We've put some consistent footy together against a side I rate highly,' Cartwright said. His side suffered another worrying injury to a key individual, with John Asiata to be sent for scans on a hamstring injury, but that should not take the edge off a very encouraging night.
Anyone Cartwright asks to play out of position, they duly deliver. Tries from Cade Cust and Herman Ese'ese gave the visitors some early dominance, and they didn't relent. Lewis Martin finished a fine Will Pryce break to extend that lead further, before a decisive blow right on half-time when Sam Eseh punctured another gap in the Leigh defensive line. Aidan Sezer, on his 250th career appearance, converted all four tries and kicked a penalty to open up an unassailable lead at the interval. The Leopards, woefully under par, had been comprehensively outplayed.
'I just didn't see that coming,' Lam said. 'It was disappointing in every area, really soft and just not what we've built this season on so far.'
There were improvements by Leigh after the break, but by then Hull had lost Asiata and playmaker Cust, and were defending well enough to ensure that their lead never looked threatened.
It wasn't until the final quarter that Leigh finally opened their account when Edwin Ipape crossed from dummy-half, before Owen Trout followed with a try of his own six minutes later. However, even at that stage, it was obvious Hull had done more than enough when it mattered earlier in the evening.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
The Transfer Lesson Newcastle United Must Learn From Manchester City
This is arguably the most important transfer window since Newcastle United's first under the majority ownership of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment' Fund. Back then, in January 2022, it was all about building a squad capable of avoiding Premier League relegation. Now, the aim is giving Eddie Howe's team the tools to thrive in not only the domestic games, but the Champions League too. For added context, Newcastle has been unable to sign a major first team upgrade in the last three windows due to Profit and Sustainability Rules restrictions. The squad has quality, but is extremely thin and in no way fit for what is to come. But having obeyed the rules and been through that difficult spell, there is belief the club can spend on a big enough scale this summer. On Thursday, the arrival of highly-rated Spanish teenager Antonio Cordero was confirmed on a free transfer from Malaga. It is expected he will go out on loan in order to be ready for a first team impact in a year or so. But the pressure move quickly is huge; days into the pre-Club World Cup mini window, which closes on June 10 before reopening properly six days later, and certain aspects of the fanbase is getting frustrated at the lack of news. It is understandable given what has gone before, and Howe himself is on record imploring the club to act quickly, but signing the right players for the right price takes time. Few clubs can match Newcastle for its success rate with player arrivals, and that comes from being calm and patient. Crucially, it means not panicking when targets go elsewhere. Talks with Bournemouth defender Dean Huijsen and Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo have resulted in both opting for Real Madrid and Manchester United respectively. Matheus Cunha, the Wolves forward, was also of interest, but the Red Devils acted quickly to sign him as well, triggering his £62.5m ($88.4m) release clause. Chelsea won the race for Ipswich striker Liam Delap, and Liverpool is set to complete its second signing from Bayer Leverkusen; after Jeremie Frimpong, playmaker Florian Wirtz will be the coup of the summer. All of the players Newcastle has spoken to have been Premier League based. Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi, who was subject of bids up to £65m ($88m) last summer, is still a player the club is considering, as is Brighton forward Joao Pedro. The Brazilian, 23, almost moved to St James' Park three years ago for £30m ($40m), but Alexander Isak arrived instead and he headed to the AMEX Stadium. If Brighton is to sell him, it will want double the fee the original fee. Domestic targets are harder to secure; clubs don't want to sell to direct rivals and the money in the Premier League is so vast that they rarely have to. Mbeumo is fully expected to join Cunha at Old Trafford for a similar fee, with some reports suggesting his wage demands are as high as £250,000 ($340,000) per-week. Newcastle has a soft salary cap in place at St James' Park; top earner is currently captain Bruno Guimaraes on £150,000 ($2o3,000) per-week. The club is open to breaking that structure, but most likely to reward Isak with a new contract. Newcastle has a history of successful deals from other markets in Europe. Isak, Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Sven Botman have all thrived, and only the Swedish striker, whose value has since more than doubled, cost anything like the figures being quoted for more localized players. Those deals are easier to do quietly too; Newcastle is a club which prefers to act away from the headlines, and it would not be a surprise to see it go down this route again. Other leagues offer greater value. There is evidence of that already this summer. Manchester City, who like Chelsea is set to compete in the Club World Cup, has agreed to sign Dutchman Tijjani Reijnders from AC Milan for £46.5m ($63m). The 26-year-old was voted the best midfielder in Serie A despite his club enduring a season where they sacked two coaches; he is approaching his peak years and this transfer would be the most expensive in his career. Yet for all that recognition and experience, playing regularly in the Champions League, he costs less than any of the players leaving mid-table Premier League clubs. Botman won the French league with Lille, Tonali won Serie A with Milan and Isak lifted the Copa del Rey in Spain with Real Sociedad. That trio cost a combined £150m ($203m). Cunha, Huijsen and Mbeumo, all excellent talents but who played for clubs finishing ninth or below in England, will cost £160m ($217m). This summer is about signing players to help Newcastle compete at the very top. The Premier League has quality players running through it, but clubs are under no pressure to sell cheaply; elsewhere in Europe, that isn't the case. Elite players can be signed for smaller fees; the sooner Newcastle realizes that, the sooner it will see its sizable transfer spend go much further.
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Can Tijjani Reijnders' arrival boost Manchester City's 2025/26 title odds?
For more stories like this, click here to follow The Athletic's sports betting section and have them added to your feed. It's been nine years since Manchester City last found themselves as an afterthought in a league title race. The 2024-25 season was a long, trophy-less season for Pep Guardiola's men. Nothing seemed to go right as injuries, ageing players and sudden drops in form combined to leave the Citizen's 13 points off Liverpool's title-winning tally of 84. Advertisement As long as Guardiola is at the helm, a double-digit gap between his team and pole position will be unacceptable. City started to bridge that gap in January, using the winter window to primarily focus on fixing a leaky defence. It seemed to work as the Citizens allowed the second-fewest expected goals (xG) in the Premier League since the start of 2025, only bested by a defensively solid Arsenal. However, the players targeted by City so far during this summer window are more impactful on the other end of the pitch. AC Milan's Tijjani Reijnders has just completed his move to Manchester, while Wolves' attacking left-back Rayan Aït-Nouri and Lyon's midfield maestro Rayan Cherki are poised to follow him. The bookmakers still believe there is much more needed from City to improve their chances of usurping Liverpool as champions of England. Even with the addition of Reijnders, Guardiola's side remain firmly behind Arsenal (5/2) and the Reds (21/10) with odds of just 13/5. So, do the bookmakers know something we don't? Or is City's ongoing overhaul about to provide considerable value? You have to hand it to Guardiola. He watched in horror as his once impenetrable defence got ripped to shreds in the early part of the season, only to sign a 'not-defender' a few months later. That isn't a malfunctioning chart; the Dutch midfielder just isn't all that interested in defending. If you want a deeper dive into what exactly Reijnders does bring to the table, our own Sam Lee has already written a comprehensive tactical breakdown. What we'll focus on here isn't the what of Reijnders but the why. As in, why does Guardiola want to sign not one, but potentially two all-out attacking midfielders — Cherki's radar looks almost identical — after watching his defence struggle to cobble itself back together? Advertisement The answer is simple: City have always won due to their devastating attacking prowess. Last year was the first time in six seasons that the Citizens didn't lead the league in xG. During the 2023-24 season, Liverpool's xG tally topped City by over seven goals (87.8-80.5). This year, that gap nearly doubled as City created only 68.1 xG to Liverpool's 82.2. For a club that once created nearly 23 more expected goals than the next closest side in the 2019-20 season, this decline has caught Guardiola's attention. The need for reinforcements who can turn things around is apparent, and Reijnders' numbers speak for themselves. The irony is that despite all the focus on the new signings, the most intriguing reason to lay money on City's 13/5 title odds is a player who joined the team last summer: Sávio. Michael Imburgio's DAVIES model attempts to capture one of the most difficult aspects of football: measuring the impact of every touch a player takes on his team's ability to score a goal. When analysing the DAVIES rankings of the most impactful players in the league last season, you get a relatively unsurprising list. Liverpool's Mohamed Salah ranks first, followed by Chelsea's Cole Palmer, Newcastle's Alexander Isak and City's Erling Haaland. The fact that Haaland leads City in the DAVIES score isn't very shocking. What does raise an eyebrow is who sits third in the table: Sávio. In nearly every category the model measures — box activity, shooting, final ball dribbles and carries — the Brazilian winger made a significant contribution to the City attack last season. If the number a sophisticated model churns out is too ambiguous for you, there are other advanced metrics that show Sávio might be a future superstar. The 21-year-old is the third-best player in the team in passes into the penalty area per 90 minutes, behind only Kevin De Bruyne and Jérémy Doku. Sávio was also second on the team in carries into the penalty area and touches inside the box, once again trailing Doku. Advertisement So, if Doku is leading all these categories, why the excitement for the Brazilian and not the Belgian? It's because Doku often uses mesmeric dribbling to get into dangerous areas only to misplay the final ball. It's why Sávio not only has a much higher DAVIES score — 3.32 to Doku's 1.33 — but also ranked second on the team in shot-creating actions, trailing only De Bruyne. Interestingly, one of the main reasons the 21-year-old likely didn't see more of the action: he couldn't score. While Reijnders scored 15 goals off just 9.9 xG, Sávio only managed a paltry two goals off 6.5 xG last season. Reijnders' additional impact in the final third certainly will add value to City's title odds as well as the contributions of Cherki and Aït-Nouri if they end up in Manchester. But the new faces aren't the reason to be optimistic about the Citizens. It's a familiar face that could supercharge their upcoming season. Betting/odds links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication. (Photo of Tijjani Reijnders: Giuseppe Meazza / Getty Images)
New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
Ex-Arsenal player Jay Emmanuel-Thomas sentenced to four years for involvement in drug smuggling plot
The former Arsenal player Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has been sentenced to four years in prison for his involvement in an attempt to smuggle 60 kilograms of cannabis into the United Kingdom. The 34-year-old will serve one year and seven months, having already served nine months on remand, before being released on license. The maximum sentence for cannabis importation in the UK is 14 years in prison. Advertisement At Thursday's sentencing at Chelmsford Crown Court, Emmanuel-Thomas sat behind a glass-panelled dock in a grey suit jacket, flanked by two security officials. Prosecutor David Josse KC told the court that Emmanuel-Thomas was expecting a payment of £5,000 ($6,800) for his part in getting the cannabis into the country. 'It is clear this was about money despite you being in a position where you had the privilege of playing football as a living,' the judge, Alexander Mills, told Emmanuel-Thomas. 'It is through your own actions that you will no longer be known for being a professional footballer. You will be known as a criminal, a professional footballer who threw it all away, and put others at risk of imprisonment, in pursuit of money.' Appearing via videolink from HMP Chelmsford on May 21, Emmanuel-Thomas pleaded guilty to the charge of fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of cannabis, between July 1 2024 and September 2, 2024, at Chelmsford Crown Court. The former England youth international had been detained by the National Crime Agency (NCA) in September 2024 after the cannabis was detected in suitcases which had arrived on a flight from Bangkok, Thailand to London's Stansted Airport on September 2. The suitcases belonged to Rosie Rowland, 29, and Yasmin Piotrowska, 33, the latter being Emmanuel-Thomas' partner. Having been arrested at Stansted, charges against the women, who denied their involvement at an earlier hearing, were dropped by the prosecution. In May, Josse told the court that the investigation into their involvement was discontinued after analysis of Emmanuel-Thomas's mobile phone. 'They thought they were importing gold, not cannabis,' Josse said. Emmanuel-Thomas initially denied his involvement in importing class B drugs at a hearing at Carlisle Magistrates' Court in September but changed his plea to guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court in May. Advertisement He had been playing at Scottish Championship club Greenock Morton, who terminated his contract after he was charged. After making one Premier League appearance for Arsenal, Emmanuel-Thomas left the north London side in 2011. He then played for clubs including Ipswich Town, Bristol City and Queens Park Rangers, as well as teams in India and Thailand, before joining Morton in July 2024. (Top photo of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas playing for Aberdeen:)
