A strong second half performance helped the Hull FC Academy defeat Hull Kingston Rovers Under 19s 24-10 in the Derby at the University of Hull.
The game was well poised at half-time with the scores locked at 6-a-piece after Joel Speed’s early try for FC was cancelled out by Tom Verity.
But FC’s youngsters took control of the second half, scoring almost immediately from the kick off through Marcus Walker. That put Hull back in the ascendency to add to their lead through Ben McNamara and Davy Litten, with Harvey Reynolds’ late try serving as a mere consolation for the Robins.
The Match
The Black & Whites continued their record of scoring the first try in all of their home fixtures so far this season when Speed latched onto Jacob Hookem’s smart grubber kick to the corner.
As both sides battled strongly for territory in the match, FC had to deploy some solid try line defence to keep Rovers at bay on a handful of occasions.
Sloppy errors from the visitors almost came at a price when Speed looked to have scored his second of the match in the corner, but the touch judge ruled that Walker’s pass wide in the build up had travelled forward.
Just as Hull looked set to take their 6-0 lead into the interval, Rovers restored parity when Verity profited from Tom Wilkinson’s smart offload near to the try line.
HALF-TIME: Hull 6-6 Rovers
It took FC less than a minute to re-take the lead after half-time, though. Despite kicking off at the start of the half, Hull claimed the ball back straight away and scored through Walker a few plays into the opening set of the second 40.
Once again, Speed looked to be in for his brace as he dived in at the corner acrobatically, but the touch judge’s flag was raised to indicate the winger had strayed marginally into touch.
Despite this frustration, Hull remained patient and they got their just rewards with just over a quarter of the game remaining when Walker supplied the pass to McNamara, who marked a splendid performance with a try.
Time was running thin for the Robins and Litten added another blow to the visitors when he pounced on a loose ball in the in-goal area.
Despite Hull’s commanding position in the second half, Reynolds added a consolation try for the visitors with just under ten minutes remaining, sliding in at the right corner.
Yet Hull managed the closing stages of the match in a professional manner to see out a 24-10 victory over their rivals.
FULL-TIME: Hull 24-10 Rovers
Squads & Scorers:
Hull: Walker, Speed, Litten, Ferreira, Chatham, McNamara, Hookem, Burrell, Morley, Gibson, Wallis, Stewart, Staveley
Hull Interchanges: Jebson, Mafi, Masike, Waites, Yeaman
Hull Tries: Speed, Walker, McNamara, Litten
Hull Goals: McNamara (4/4)
Rovers: H Moore, Byas-Tash, Kirkbright, Hoggarth, Lawton, Agar, Verity, C Moore, Cavanaugh, Cullen, Dickens, Wilkinson, Maull
Rovers Interchanges: O’Loughlin, Okoro Aroh, Potter, Reynolds, Tennison
Rovers Tries: Verity, Reynolds
Rovers Goals: Lawton (1/2)
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