Hull FC Women claimed their first away victory of the season yesterday, defeating Halifax Panthers Women 26-22.
Halifax almost mounted a spirited comeback against Hull, who led 24-6 at one stage.
But Sam French’s side had done enough to secure the two points, heading back to Hull victorious ahead of next Sunday’s meeting with Barrow Raiders Women.
Hull struck first when Hannah McConaghy profited from some slick attacking play to run through and dot down near the left touchline.
The scoreboard started to reflect Hull’s dominance when Leanne Baggley claimed a cross-field kick after taking a bounce to score in the left corner.
Baggley secured a brace with a slice of individual brilliance, scampering out of dummy half, rounding the fullback and scoring underneath the uprights.
The conversion brought the scores to 16-0, but Halifax got themselves back into the contest when the dummy half grounded the ball after avoiding a number of challenges.
Cassy Lawson won possession back for Hull after a one-on-one ball steal. On the next play, Nataliina Romano and McConaghy combined gloriously to set up Helen Needham for an important score in the corner.
HALF-TIME: Panthers 6-20 Hull
Having started the second half in similar fashion to the way they ended the first 40, Hull looked to have secured the two points when Ruby Magson crashed over on the right side of the field.
But when tempers frayed shortly afterwards, FC’s discipline started to cost them as Leonie Lawson was sent to the sin bin. Halifax scored their second try of the afternoon on the back of that penalty.
The deficit was narrowed again moments after the restart, grounding the ball to score after a kick through on the last tackle. With 14 minutes remaining, Hull’s lead had been cut to 24-16.
Matters got worse for French’s outfit when Jade Key was sin binned for dissent. The Panthers struck again when the dummy half chipped a kick over the defensive line and regathered on the last tackle, bringing the scores to 24-22 with just eight minutes left.
But Hull managed the final stages of the game professionally, and added an extra two points to the scoreboard through Baggley’s penalty goal.
FULL-TIME: Panthers 22-26 Hull
STORY SPONSOR
