Hull 14-18 Hull KR

Hull Kingston Rovers overcame rivals Hull FC narrowly 18-14, in a phenomenal Easter game at the KC Stadium.

Rovers showed fantastic defence for the first sixty minutes of the game, but the Airlie Birds came back to take the game by the scruff of the neck.

In a titanic and frantic last ten minutes Rovers managed to keep their rivals out despite spending the majority of the time on their own line.

Paul Cooke played an integral part in the game, on his return to the KC Stadium, scoring a try in the first half.

Justin Morgan’s side took advantage of a poor start to the game by Hull FC through Jake Webster, the home side kicking the ball out on the full from the kick-off.

It took just one minute nineteen seconds for the Robins to take the lead, Webster collecting a Michael Dobson kick to score.

Hull KR had a few chances to extend their line, but were pegged back after 24 minutes when Tom Briscoe ended a superb flowing move.

Quick hands by Chris Thorman and Craig Hall enabled Kirk Yeaman to sprint down the wing before chipping the ball over full-back Shaun Briscoe for namesake Tom to collect and score. Dobson converted.

But their resilience didn’t last long and Hull KR extended their lead further with a score by former West Hull favourite, Cooke.

He made a controversial switch to the Robins two seasons ago, but showed his experience when he dummied the ball to allow space for him to reach over the line. Dobson converted the try for the second time.

And KR continued as they started the game after the half-time interval, Peter Fox grabbing their third try of the game.

Ben Galea made a fantastic break down the right flank after a mistake by Craig Hall, and Fox took advantage of Hull’s lack of defence from the quick play-the-ball to dive over.

But once more Hull provided stubborn resilience and it took an individual effort from hooker Shaun Berrigan to drag them back into the game.

The former Brisbane man showed great speed from dummy half to find a chink in the Rovers defence to cross.

And they narrowed the gap further to just four points when Richard Whiting latched onto Mark Calderwood‘s hack forward.

That proved to be the last scoring act of the game, despite several chances for both sides in the final fifteen minutes.

Hull FC tried their best to break Rovers; defence several times, but it was all to no avail as the Robins mustered enough energy to muscle up and prevent any further points scores.