Hull march into quarters
Hull racked up nine tries as they saw off Widnes to claim a place in the Carnegie Challenge Cup quarter-finals.
Last Updated: 21/05/11 5:53pm
Hull racked up nine tries as they saw off a determined Widnes to claim a place in the Carnegie Challenge Cup quarter-finals.
The visitors assumed control of the game from the ninth minute but were given a sterner test then they would have probably have envisaged.
Richard Horne and Tom Briscoe finished with two tries apiece for Hull while Richard Whiting, Will Sharp, Joe Westerman, Epalahame Lauaki and Cameron Phelps also touched down.
Widnes kept themselves in the contest early on with tries from MacGraff Leuluai - son of Hull hero James - and Steve Tyrer and fought to the end despite Hull's greater ability eventually telling.
Widnes briefly threatened but former Hull KR player Chaz I'Anson lost the ball and Whiting opened the scoring after the Vikings defence missed a high Horne kick to the corner.
Whiting's quickfire break set up a second for Sharp and Danny Tickle landed the first of four goals to extend the lead to 10-0 inside 11 minutes.
Interception
It appeared that Widnes would be in for an uncomfortable afternoon but Tangi Ropati produced a great interception that spared them further damage.
Nevertheless, Widnes rallied to pull a try back as Leuluai found his way over and cut the deficit to two points when Tyrer took Thomas Coyle's long pass to cross the line.
Horne quickly re-established order, opening up the defence with a clever dummy in front of the posts and finding a clear route to score.
Hull extended their lead to 22-8 at the interval after a break by Briscoe set up another scoring opportunity.
Westerman eventually applied the finishing touches under the posts from Turner's pass.
Just three minutes after the interval, Widnes bared their teeth when Varkulis went over from the restart from a scrum.
Evaporated
However, the comeback quickly evaporated as less than a minute later Lauaki powered over the line for Hull.
Widnes' frustration was compounded just seconds later as Hull quickly shifted the ball to the opposite corner and Briscoe went in.
The Vikings were not finished and were gifted another try when Mark O'Meley threw a loose pass to Ropati and the Samoan eased to the line.
The hosts wanted more but Briscoe superbly anticipated a I'Anson pass and ran the length of the field to put the game beyond any doubt.
Danny Houghton put Horne under the posts for his second try but Widnes added more respectability when Tyrer went over out wide.
Phelps added gloss to the scoreline with another try after the final hooter and Westerman brought up the half-century with his third goal.