Hull interim coach Andy Last told Radio Humberside:
“I’m proud of the second 40 minutes but bitterly disappointed with the first half, which was not a reflection of what we are as a group.
“It was a tough half-time. I didn’t shout and bawl, I just questioned the lads’ character and their effort, and their heart for 80 minutes in the competition, which is a horrible thing to challenge them with.
“They responded in the right way and played a good brand of rugby in the second half, and got the fundamentals right, which is completing some sets, turning the ball over in the right areas, bending your back and digging in defensively, and making Leigh having to work out of their own end. We forced them into some errors and capitalised on that.”
Leigh coach Adrian Lam told Radio Manchester:
“The second half was a little bit nerve-wracking but I thought our first half was unbelievably good. After the performance last week we worked really hard on starting well and giving ourselves a chance, especially up here.
“They’re not doing too well on the ladder, but some of their performances in the last month have been pretty good, and they’ve been unlucky. They’re a tough team to beat.
“[In the second half] a couple of decisions and choices hurt us a little bit and built momentum for them, but I don’t really want to dwell on that, I’m really happy at the moment.”
Hull FC: Moy; Barron, Hardaker, Litten, Briscoe; Arthur, Sezer; Salabio, Bourouh, Hill, Batchelor, O’Neill, Bell
Interchanges: Aydin, Clark, Cust, Ese’ese
Leigh: O’Brien; Senior, Armstrong, Hanley, Charnley; Cook, Lam; Trout, Horne, Liu, Halton, Hughes, Brogan.
Interchanges: Davis, Vaalepu, Brown, Ipape.
Sin-bin: Trout (61)
Referee: Aaron Moore