Hull FC Academy maintained their unbeaten start to the 2023 season, running out 32-4 victors over Hull KR Academy at the University of Hull this afternoon.
The hosts were comfortable at the break after first-half tries from Mackenzie Harman, Kye Armstrong and Callum Shaw put the Black & Whites 16-0 up.
A blistering start to the second-half put the game to bed thanks to tries from Roman Dawson, Charlie Stipetic and Joe Ward.
The Match
Typical of any Derby clash, it was a cagey affair in the opening exchanges with both sides trading sets inside the first ten minutes.
But it was Hull who drew first blood in the arm-wrestle thanks to some slick hands down the middle. Cobie Wainhouse managed to poke his nose through and offload to the supporting Harman, who raced away from Josh Ratuvou to open the scoring.
Despite the Robins’ best attempts to stay at arm’s length with their Black & White counterparts, Hull’s dominance was such that Armstrong was able to barge over the whitewash underneath the uprights to double the lead.
The hosts made it a quickfire double to deal a serious blow to the Hull KR confidence. Ryan Westerman’s tip-on pass looked destined to bounce out into touch, but Shaw demonstrated unbelievable skill to pop the ball up into his hands with the inside of his right boot and dive over in the corner.
Armstrong thought he had a second as Hull got into their groove, but he couldn’t quite win the race to ground a teasing Sully Medforth grubber kick.
HALF-TIME: Hull Academy 16-0 Robins Academy
In the first set of the second-half, Hull FC got the perfect start when Dawson accelerated away from the defenders to blister down the left touch line and get around KR fullback Harvey Horne to dot down in the corner.
The Black & Whites registered another quickfire double when the Robins’ poor line speed was exposed as Stipetic crashed over the whitewash for a hard-earned try off the bench.
Hull continued to apply the pressure and they were rewarded with a sixth try thanks to a gloriously executed scrum play, finished by Ward in the left corner as he crossed for his first try in Black & White colours.
The visitors did manage to get points on the board, much to the frustration of Michael Shenton. Oliver Forsyth’s break down the left wing was brought to a halt by Harman and Shaw, but Horne managed to sneak around the markers and score in the left corner.
With a number of head knocks and injuries in the final quarter, the game began to peter out. But Hull did enough to limit the Robins to just four points and see out their third consecutive win at the start of the Academy Championship campaign.
FULL-TIME: Hull Academy 32-4 Robins Academy
Squads & Scorers
Hull: Moy, Shaw, Westerman, Dawson, Ward, Medforth, Harman, Dulson, Hodgson, Wainhouse, Clark, Bursell, Armstrong
Hull Interchanges: Haldenby, Horsfield, Hutchinson, Stipetic
Hull Tries: Harman, Armstrong, Shaw, Dawson, Stipetic, Ward
Hull Goals: Harman (4/6)
Robins: Horne, Forsyth, Gorman, Ratuvou, Krebs, Ellis, Townend, Handley, Parkinson, Smith, Gray, Todd, Beet
Robins Interchanges: Avison, Docherty, Hassard, Wilson
Robins Tries: Horne
Robins Goals: Horne (0/1)
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