Hull FC Reserves ran in nine tries as they defeated Huddersfield Giants Reserves 50-28 on a windy afternoon at the University of Hull.
Hull raced into a 24-0 lead inside seventeen minutes through tries from Ryan Johnson, Denive Balmforth, Davy Litten and Mackenzie Harman, before Roman Dawson finished off a slick move to take FC up to the 30-point mark at half-time.
The wind picked up after the break, making for an error-strewn second-half, but further tries from Will Kirby, Jeylan Hodgson, Liam Tindall and Balmforth made it a comfortable victory in the end for the Black & Whites.
The Match
In a lightning-fast start, Hull ran in three tries with little more than ten minutes on the watch.
First, two brothers demonstrated their understanding of one another as Ben Johnson put his older sibling, Ryan, through a hole with a well-weighted pass, the centre finishing off from 15 metres out.
Again, Hull were celebrating just a couple of minutes later as the elusive Balmforth spun over from close range.
Harman’s short pass was just the tonic for Litten to snake out a right arm and place the ball on the white line, a relieving moment for the young outside back, who was back in Rugby League action for the first time in over a month.
Continuing his strong start to the match, Harman went from provider to scorer, somehow wriggling out of a tackle and stumbling over the try line. The halfback converted his own try, taking Hull into an emphatic 24-0 lead with less than a quarter of the game played.
But the visitors managed to stop the rot and close the floodgates. And they were rewarded for their tenacity, Oliver Whitford getting on the end of a perfect, looping pass from Leo Ward.
The last try of the half was no doubt the best, though, and it went the way of the hosts. Hodgson made a deadly break from dummy-half inside his own territory, before offloading. The ball went through the hands of Kirby and Ryan Johnson, before eventually finding Dawson on the right wing. He stepped inside, coming back against the grain, finishing off a glorious move.
HALF-TIME: Hull Reserves 30-4 Giants Reserves
Any indication that Hull would take their foot off the gas in the second-half was quashed when Kirby scored just four minutes after the restart, starting off a ridiculous scoring spree between the two sides.
The back-rower came onto a short pass from Hodgson at first-receiver, breaking through two tackles and scoring underneath the uprights from a healthy 40 metres out.
Huddersfield’s persistent approach forced an error from a grubber kick, and Andrew Gill’s tricky footwork out of the scrum had FC’s defence at sixes and sevens, with the Giants’ replacement hooker pulling another try back for the visitors.
Four minutes later, Hodgson, one of Hull’s strongest performers on the day, scampered over the whitewash from dummy-half after Harman’s quick play-the-ball for a well-deserved try.
But a sloppy five-minute period for the Airlie Birds, which included as many as three errors presented the Giants with a gift-wrapped four-pointer. A loose carry out of backfield was capitalised on by Darius Carter, who was in the right place at the right time to score.
No sooner had Huddersfield crossed than Hull responded again. The kick-off restart held up in the wind and it was patted back courtesy of Ryan Johnson’s well-timed leap. Balmforth accepted the gift, saw a gap, and pinned the ears back to score from 35 metres out.
However, the counter-attack continued. Huddersfield’s kick-off restart bobbled out into touch, and in the resulting good-ball set, Gill’s shifty footwork earned him a second try.
That was before the Giants forced a goal-line drop-out and opted to bash the front door down, with Kameron Siddique barging over on the crash play under the sticks.
But it was Hull who had the final say at the end of a crazy second-half of Rugby League. In truth, it was one of the best moves of the second-half, with a sweeping play to the left edge allowing Ben Johnson to fire a cut-out pass for Tindall to stroll in at the corner.
FULL-TIME: Hull Reserves 50-28 Giants Reserves
Squads & Scores
Hull: B Johnson, Dawson, R Johnson, Litten, Tindall, Harman, Medforth, Mafi, Hodgson, Haldenby, Jebson, Kirby, Balmforth
Hull Interchanges: Clark, Stewart, Turner, Westerman
Hull Tries: R Johnson, Balmforth (2), Litten, Harman, Dawson, Kirby, Hodgson, Tindall
Hull Goals: Harman (7/9)
Giants: Blacker, Downey, Wainwright, Hanley, Whitford, Ward, Dean, Siddique, Lumb, Land, Merta, Carter, Johnson
Giants Interchanges: Algar, Breedon, Gill, Sykes
Giants Tries: Whitford, Gill (2), Carter, Siddique
Giants Goals: Whitford (4/5)
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