Hull FC Scholarship scored an impressive eleven tries as they defeated Bradford Bulls Under 16s 64-18 at the University of Hull.
Linking up to great effect, Hull’s spine orchestrated an emphatic victory, with Josh Horne running in four tries, whilst fullback Tyler Eccles and hooker Finlay Davies enjoyed braces in each half.
Caleb Paleaaesina and Leon Hayward completed the scoresheet for Richard Tate’s side, who made it back-to-back wins.
The Match
Having forced a goal-line drop-out in the opening set of the match, the Bulls started on the front foot but they were quickly forced on the defensive when they conceded a seven-tackle set after a heavy grubber kick. Hull went on to make a mercurial break down the right edge, very much setting the tone for their approach to play for the rest of the game as Horne got on the end of a swift Eccles break.
Halfback Ellis Chapman, making his first start of the season, played a short pass to the powerful back-rower Paleaaesina who crashed through the Bradford line just inside his own half. He drew in the fullback and sent Davies on his way to the try line from 30 metres out.
Chapman again caused havoc amongst the Bradford defence just two minutes later, as his awkward, swirling kick to the corner hung in the wind and had the Bulls at sixes and sevens. Rhys Yorke did well to claim possession and offload to Hayward, as Hull made it 18-0 inside fourteen minutes.
The tries kept coming as FC refused to relent, scoring two more tries before the game was even twenty minutes old.
Conceding back-to-back penalties did Bradford no favours. Chapman and Paleaaesina were very much on the same page – the halfback’s short, firm pass to the back-rower was only going to end one way from such close proximity to the in-goal area.
Chapman’s impressive start continued, mixing up his play with a deep ball to the elusive Eccles. The fullback burst through the defensive line from inside his own half and drew in the fullback, before inviting Davies to put the accelerator down to score from 30 metres out.
Just as it looked as though Bradford had a little respite, Hull were back in the ascendency after a sluggish spell. A goodball set ended with Chapman’s grubber bouncing off the midriff of Logan Boylan in a blue shirt, popping up into the hands of Horne, the grateful recipient of his second try of the evening.
But as the first-half went on, Bradford continued plugging away and got their first points on the board through Sean Twomey’s strong drive over the line, despite the best efforts of two defenders in Black & White shirts.
HALF-TIME: Hull Scholars 36-6 Bulls Scholars
Hull’s ruthless approach continued in the first set of the second-half. Again, Eccles took up a deep position in the play, which allowed him to arrive onto the pass at serious pace and charge through the defensive line. The fullback had Paleaaesina on the inside, and it appeared the floodgates were back open, with Hull beginning another free-flowing try-scoring spree.
Straight from the kick-off, Horne caught the ball on the full 20 metres away from his own try line. He threw a huge dummy, fooling the entire Bradford defence, and the halfback sprinted all the way to score a sensational individual try.
Before the visitors had even had a touch of the ball in the second-half, they were once again gathered underneath the posts as Hull ran in their ninth try of the evening. Again, Chapman and Paleaaesina linked up to great effect, and the back-rower was able to find fullback Eccles haring up on the inside to score.
Having already secured his hat-trick, Horne was certainly not happy to settle with just three tries. He made it four, taking possession from the scrum and again dummying his way through a fatigued defensive line, as well as outrunning Bradford fullback Will Eyre to finish the move in the right corner.
By and large, Hull’s discipline wasn’t too bad in what proved to be a physical game in the middle. But a penalty for a high-tackle gifted the visitors field position and Will Barber was able to barge over underneath the sticks in the resulting set.
Eccles, one of many standouts in an impressive Hull FC performance, made it a brace of tries with just over five minutes remaining. He had taken up some great positions throughout the game, but none better than when he ran a line like any good second-rower to take in Chapman’s fired pass, scoring from 15 metres out.
But sustained pressure from the Bulls allowed the visitors to have the final say in a game that consisted of fourteen tries. Frustratingly for Hull, it was another barge over under the posts after Bradford forced a goal-line drop-out, with Harrison Lazenby bouncing off a tackle and crashing over.
FULL-TIME: Hull Scholars 64-18 Bulls Scholars
Squads & Scorers
Hull: Eccles, Nelson-Hewitt, Cheshire, Hayward, Yorke, Horne, Chapman, Donnachie, Davies, Smith, Paleaaesina, Kassim, McCracken
Hull Interchanges: Barley, Edwards, Mortimer, Sharpe, Tallantire, Turner, Wilson
Hull Tries: Horne (4), Davies (2), Hayward, Paleaaesina (2), Eccles (2)
Hull Goals: Davies (9/10), Chapman (1/1)
Bulls: Eyre, James, Fozard, O’Connor, Flynn, A. Wright, Hunkin, Kent, Garbett, Boylan, Lee, Roberts, J. Wright
Bulls Interchanges: Barber, Bostock, Chhibu, Gill, Lazenby, Singer, Twomey
Bulls Tries: Twomey, Barber, Lazenby
Bulls Goals: Hunkin (2/2), A. Wright (1/1)
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