Hull 22-20 Hull KR

by Our Sports Desk

HULL won the 227th derby with an amazing smash-and-grab 22-20 triumph over Hull KR at The Circle yesterday afternoon.

The Black and Whites trailed 20-0 with 20 minutes to play, the Robins having surged ahead through tries from Ryan Shaw, Ken Sio and Iain Thornley along with four Josh Mantellato goals.But four tries in 15 minutes turned the game on its head.

Jamie Shaul, Danny Houghton, Mahe Fonua all touched down to make things interesting, before Steve Michaels’s try and Marc Sneyd’s conversion secured the two points.

Hull thought they had opened the scoring in the first minute when Carlos Tuimavave scampered through to score near the posts. Upon video review, the visitors were penalised for stripping the ball from Mantellato prior to the score.

Rovers, leading the Super League derby series 15-13, broke the deadlock in the 16th minute. Shaw broke down the right-hand side, keeping his feet in bounds to score. Mantellato missed the conversion, but Rovers led 4-0.

Hull, now without half-back Tuimavave due to injury, lacked direction and struggled to create anything in attack.

A stray pass was snapped up close to the halfway line by Sio, who used his pace to beat Scott Taylor and get to the line. Mantellato made no mistake with his conversion to extend Rovers’ lead to 10-0.

Mantellato was on target just before the interval with a penalty in front of the posts to leave Hull trailing their hosts by two converted tries at the start of the second half.

Things got worse for Hull 10 minutes into the second period when they were exposed on their right-hand side. Thornley took full advantage to score in the corner. Mantellato converted to make it 18-0.

Mantellato missed a number of games for Rovers with an eye injury prior to the win against Salford five days earlier, but there was certainly nothing wrong with his vision as he kicked the home team into a 20-0 lead with another penalty.

It took Hull an hour to get going and finally they troubled the scoreboard operators when Shaul broke down the left flank to score. Sneyd converted to make it 20-6.

Suddenly it was Hull on top. A flowing move from right to left was finished off in style by Houghton under the posts, making Sneyd’s conversion much easier to bring it back to 20-12.

Rovers were now defending for their lives, but a Kirk Yeaman error let them off the hook with Hull attacking the hosts’ line with 14 minutes remaining.

Fonua’s try nine minutes from time set up a grandstand finale that had not looked possible after 60 minutes. Sneyd’s missed conversion meant Hull trailed 20-16.

But Michaels amazingly drew the match level with his try in the 75th minute, leaving Sneyd another tricky conversion to give his side the lead. He made no mistake, and Hull led 22-20 with four-and-a-half minutes to play.Rovers tried to rally, but came up short.