Hull Kingston Rovers secured a precious 18-10 derby win over Hull FC at KCOM Craven Park. Here’s our verdict…
MATCH DETAILS
The visitors opened the scoring on nine minutes following a penalty conceded by Rovers’ Kane Linnett, holding down Carlos Tuimavave. From there, Marc Sneyd’s kick found Bureta Faraimo who dived low in the left-hand corner to score.
Rovers quickly replied from a penalty as Adam Quinlan broke the defensive line and kicked back inside which found Ben Crooks who dodged the defenders to equal the scores for the remainder of the first half.
Rovers started the second half the strongest and drew first blood after the break when Josh Drinkwater kick found captain Joel Tomkins who found the ball underneath the sticks.
It was nip and tuck until the 66th minute when Andre Savelio scored for the visitors, capitalising on a ball-steal called by referee Robert Hicks on Faraimo. Sneyd’s conversion attempt hit the post making it 12-10 to Rovers.
But the match-winner belonged to the star-man Matt Parcell who darted from dummy-half to clinch the all-important two points.
FOUR POINTERS
Rovers Keep Fighting
Despite losing to their relegation rivals London Broncos last week, Rovers played with a lot of confidence in front of a lively crowd which pushed them on their second win over Hull FC this season.
Those two points proved vital to Rovers’ Super League survival as it lifts them to ninth in the league table.
That could be short-lived if London beat Castleford Tigers and Leeds beat Catalan Dragons on Sunday.
You Couldn’t Write It
The odds were heavily in favour of Hull FC who came into the game with seven wins in their previous nine, including their memorable 50-10 win over Catalan last weekend.
However head coach Lee Radford expressed his disappointment in his side’s lack of discipline and unforced errors that gave Rovers more possession and chances.
Dream Debut
Despite only being revealed as Tony Smith’s fourth loan signing of the season just two days ago, Parcell put in a man-of-the-match performance and put the icing on the cake by scoring the winning try.
Parcell filled in at hooker throughout the whole 80 minutes, which is a first for Rovers as they’ve struggled to keep Shaun Lunt fit, meaning they haven’t had that experience leading from the rook.
Tough Cookie
It had to be mentioned that Hull FC Joe Westerman dislocated his knee-cap in the late stages of the game which would have been concerning for the fans.
But the loose-forward simply clicked it back in and continued playing, shocking the coaches, fans and even the media. It was certainly one the highlights of the game.
THE RESULT
Hull KR + 18
Tries: Crooks (15), Tomkins (50), Parcell (79)
Goals: Shaw (3)
Drop Goals: n/a
Hull FC + 10
Tries: Faraimo (9), Savelio (66)
Goals: Sneyd (1)
Drop Goals: n/a
SQUADS
Hull KR: Adam Quinlan, Ryan Shaw, Kane Linnett, Ben Crooks, Craig Hall, Josh Drinkwater, Danny McGuire, Luis Johnson, Matt Parcell, Daniel Murray, Joel Tomkins, Weller Hauraki, George Lawler.
Interchanges: Mitch Garbutt, Mose Masoe, Chris Atkin, Harvey Livett.
Hull FC: Jamie Shaul, Bureta Faraimo, Carlos Tuimavave, Josh Griffin, Ratu Naulago, Jake Connor, Marc Sneyd, Chris Green, Danny Houghton, Mickey Paea, Mark Minichiello, Sika Manu, Joe Westerman.
Interchanges: Brad Fash, Josh Bowden, Scott Taylor, Andre Savelio.
