Hull roar to derby success
Hull assistant coach Lee Radford was on the scoresheet as his side ran in six tries during a thumping 36-6 derby triumph over Hull KR.
Last Updated: 06/04/12 3:42pm
Hull assistant coach Lee Radford was on the scoresheet as his side ran in six tries during a thumping 36-6 derby triumph over Hull KR at the KC Stadium.
Despite the one-sided scoreline, Hull were made to battle by their neighbours before eventually romping away to an emphatic success.
Led by Radford, who came out of retirement to aid Hull in an injury crisis which ruled out eight players, the Black and Whites got the better of their dogged opponents in the closing quarter of the game as they racked up the points.
A scrappy opening half, dominated by two robust defences, remained scoreless for over half-an-hour, although Danny Houghton thought he had drawn first blood for the hosts on ten minutes after touching down Richard Horne's clever grubber kick only to be adjudged narrowly offside by the video referee.
But the contest finally came to life just before the break; the opening try arriving on 32 minutes with former Hull man Craig Hall grabbing it against his old club to put the visitors ahead.
The centre rose well to gather a hanging Michael Dobson kick above Richard Horne and touched down next to the posts - Dobson added the conversion.
But the Robins were only in front for four minutes Radford scored a fairytale try. The 32-year-old powered on to an offload from Brett Seymour and bulldozed his way over from close range - Danny Tickle slotted a simple conversion to level the scores.
Clash of heads
Hull KR then suffered another blow just before half-time as Rhys Lovegrove was forced from the pitch after a sickening clash of heads with team-mate Kris Welham as the pair attempted to make a tackle.
Worse was to come as they found themselves behind within 60 seconds of the restart.Pprop Scott Wheeldon's sloppy play-of-the-ball gifted possession to Hull who immediately forged ahead for the first time through Jordan Turner's try.
Casting off the shackles of the opening 40 minutes, both sides came to life as Hull began to show the type of form which had taken them into the top two, while Rovers offered the promise their lowly league position will be temporary.
But Craig Sandercock's men were made to pay for their profligacy as full-back Shannon McDonnell and hooker Lincoln Withers both spurned chances.
And KR's task only got harder when a penalty for infringement in the tackle handed Hull goal kicker Danny Tickle an easy two-point penalty in front of the posts to extend his side's lead to 14-6.
Leading by two scores, Hull's confidence grew and soon they were the dominant force as they enjoyed set after set inside the Rovers half.
Having forced two drop-outs Hull then hammered the nail in the coffin of Rovers with four tries inside the last 20 minutes.
Turner was handed time and space out wide to go over for his second try of the match and quick tries in succession for homegrown favourite Kirk Yeaman and Hull scrum-half Brett Seymour then made certain of the result before Turner capped his hat-trick with a 70-metre run down field after the final hooter had gone.
That left Hull coach Peter Gentle to celebrate a first derby win which lifts his side back into Super League's top two, while Rovers coach Sandercock will take his side to Salford on Easter Monday knowing they need to improve on their tally of just three wins so far this campaign.