A second-half siege saw Hull FC Academy sail to a 48-0 victory over Wakefield Trinity Under 18s at the DIY Kitchens Stadium.
The Black & Whites’ Under 18s moved back into the play-off places after their commanding victory, in which Callum Kemp and Joe Ward scored doubles.
Kieran Calvert, Elliot Middlemas, Will Hutchinson and Lennon Clark completed the second-half scoring for Hull’s youngsters.
The Match
The opening five minutes were bright for both sides in an end-to-start, but Wakefield began to dominate as they earned penalties and forced a goal-line drop-out.
Hull’s early resolve was steely though, and when they got down to the other end of the field, Kemp latched onto a perfectly-weighted Jack Charles grubber kick to open the scoring.
Kemp enjoyed a solid performance for Hull’s Reserves just seven days ago, scoring a brace of tries in an impressive 60-4 victory over Leigh. The young halfback had another brace to his name as he danced his way through the Wakefield line from close range, shortly after Charles’ similar effort was thwarted.
Defences were looking strong, though, and the referee, Tara Jones, called held-up in-goal on numerous occasions.
Hull looked to strangle Wakefield out of the game as they forced a series of goal-line drop-outs on the approach to half-time, but their lead at the break was only twelve-points after Charles slotted over a penalty goal.
HALF-TIME: Trinity Academy 0-12 Hull Academy
All of that late first-half pressure paid dividends not long after the restart, with Hull running in two quickfire tries to take hold of the game.
Despite Wakefield gifting Hull territory with a seven-tackle set, Kemp still had to show his quality with a perfectly-timed pass to put Kieran Calvert through a hole to score under the sticks, as the back-rower nailed his line.
Kemp was the orchestrator once again. Will Hutchinson’s dangerous dummy-half dart afforded Kemp the much-needed space to float a looped pass out wide to Ward, who slid in at the right corner to add FC’s fourth try of the afternoon.
Wingman Ward, in fine form for both the Academy and Reserves in 2024, added to his tally once again, owing thanks to Ben Johnson for a glorious flick pass to put him away in the right corner.
The floodgates were well and truly open when Elliot Middlemas rose highest in the air to pluck Charles’ measured kick out of the sky, dotting down to the left of the posts.
Hull’s unrelenting approach continued, and Wakefield were making life awfully difficult for themselves with a series of incomplete sets. Field position foreshadowed points for FC in the second-half, so there was little surprise when Hutchinson darted away from dummy-half to score the visitors’ seventh try of the game.
The victory was complete, and sealed with a rubber stamp, when the workmanlike Lennon Clark came in to take Alistair Swyer’s pass out of dummy-half, angling his run through a fatigued Trinity defence.
FULL-TIME: Trinity Academy 0-48 Hull Academy
Squads & Scorers
Hull: L Kemp, Ward, Westerman, Johnson, Middlemas, Charles, C Kemp, Smith, Swyer, Haldenby, Clark, Calvert, Baker
Hull Interchanges: Hutchinson, Nicholson, Tempest, Turner
Hull Tries: C Kemp (2), Calvert, Ward (2), Middlemas, Hutchinson, Clark
Hull Goals: Charles (2/3), Westerman (6/6)
Trinity: Kershaw, McGillivary, Barnes, Sinfield, Sghaier, Ratcliffe, Stephenson, Lingard, Easton, Briggs, Molyneux, Staveley-Carr, Winks
Trinity Interchanges: Bell, Godfrey, Hardie, Thompson
Trinity Tries: N/A
Trinity Goals: N/A
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