Hull FC won the Clive Sullivan Trophy and secured a second win of the 2020 Betfred Super League season over arch rivals Hull Kingston Rovers with a 31-16 victory at the Totally Wicked Stadium.
A performance inspired by four Jake Connor assists on his 100th Hull FC appearance saw braces scored by wingers Bureta Faraimo and Ratu Naulago.
Ligi Sao and Josh Bowden were also on the scoresheet as the Airlie Birds ran in six tries against their enemies from the east side of the city.
Team News
Andy Last made two changes from the side that took to the field in the thrashing of Castleford Tigers just under a fortnight ago, with Mahe Fonua and Scott Taylor both coming back into the starting line-up to replace Jamie Shaul and Josh Griffin.
Danny Houghton started on the bench and will became the outright record appearance maker in Hull Derby matches, making his 33rd appearance against the Robins.
Meanwhile, Connor, who started at full-back, made his 100th club appearance for Hull FC.
Joe Cator and Manu Ma’u both started in the pack for their first appearances in a Hull Derby in Black & White.
The Robins rested a handful of players for their fixture against Wakefield Trinity last Sunday – Tony Smith welcomed Dean Hadley, Weller Hauraki, Kane Linnett and Matt Parcell back into the Rovers squad.
The Match
As they have done in so many of their matches since the Super League restart, it was Hull FC who struck first blood in the game.
After soaking up some early Rovers pressure, the Black & Whites turned defence into attack thanks to a Faraimo break. From the following play, Cator sent Bowden through a hole with a nice pass, and the forward’s try was converted by Sneyd.
The Robins responded well, forcing a goal line drop out. Nice handling skills from Linnett in the resulting set gave Rovers the extra man, and former FC forward Hadley showed the dummy before diving over the line. Dagger converted to level the scores after 17 minutes.
The Airlie Birds were keen to regain the lead and they did just that with their first possession of the ball since conceding. An awkward pass that went to ground was expertly picked up and grubber kicked by Connor – Faraimo was on hand to slide in at the corner despite the best efforts of two Hull KR defenders. Sneyd added the two from out wide.
Once again, Hull KR showed their tenacity and struck back through Linnett. Repeat sets put pressure on the FC defence – just as it seemed as though the Black & Whites had weathered the storm, the Scottish international managed to dot the ball down on the last play. Dagger converted to make it 12-a-piece.
Hull were being dealt a much tougher assignment than their last outing against Castleford – the Black & Whites were 24-0 ahead at this stage in the game.
But Hull KR came up with a rare error from the restart, as Ben Crooks spilled the ball. A cut-out pass from Connor went straight into the breadbasket of Naulago, who dived in at the corner. Sneyd couldn’t convert this time from the touchline.
The Robins had no response to FC’s third try, and instead it was the Black & Whites who extended their lead by another six points on the stroke of half-time. Connor was at the centre of the action once again – his looping ball to Faraimo came to no avail – the ball was recycled and Connor found Sao running the inside line, scoring underneath the sticks.
HALF-TIME: Hull KR 12-22 Hull FC
The Black & Whites started the second half just as they finished the first period. Connor earned an early penalty and from the resulting set, it was the number six who set Faraimo up for his second try of the game, barging over the Hull KR defenders in the corner. Sneyd missed the conversion from out wide.
After getting their hands dirty with some more try-line defence, Hull FC were rewarded for their determination with another try at the other end of the field. Naulago had enough space to score his second try of the night in the right corner, but Sneyd could only hit the woodwork with his touchline conversion attempt.
To rub salt into the Robins’ wounds, Sneyd kicked a drop-goal with just 14 minutes on the clock, giving the Black & Whites a 19-point lead for extra security.
With just over ten minutes remaining, the Robins gave themselves a glimmer of hope of completing a comeback when Crooks slid in at the corner, but Dagger couldn’t convert from out wide, so it remained 31-16 to the Airlie Birds.
FULL-TIME: Hull KR 16-31 Hull FC
Squads & Scorers
Hull FC: Jake Connor, Ratu Naulago, Carlos Tuimavave, Mahe Fonua, Bureta Faraimo, Ben McNamara, Marc Sneyd, Scott Taylor, Jordan Johnstone, Josh Bowden, Manu Ma’u, Andre Savelio, Joe Cator
Hull FC Interchanges: Brad Fash, Danny Houghton, Ligi Sao, Chris Satae
Hull FC Tries: Bowden, Faraimo (2), Naulago (2), Sao
Hull FC Goals: Sneyd (3/6), (DG)
Hull KR: Will Dagger, Ben Crooks, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Kane Linnett, Nick Rawsthorne, Jordan Abdull, Mikey Lewis, George Lawler, Matt Parcell, George King, Weller Hauraki, Dean Hadley, Elliot Minchella
Hull KR Interchanges: Matty Gee, Will Maher, Rowan Milnes, Robbie Mulhern
Hull KR Tries: Hadley, Linnett, Crooks
Hull KR Goals: Dagger (2/3)
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