If Hull FC don’t make the Super League play-offs this year, then they’ll only have themselves to blame. Once again, when entering a game as favourites, they produced a lacklustre performance, with the Black and Whites’ wretched home form returning in what was a disappointing 30-14 home defeat to Huddersfield Giants on Saturday afternoon.
That’s not to dilute any credit away from Huddersfield, who came to Hull with a plan and saw it out to effect. They got a grip of their hosts and ran away with the contest in pretty comfortable fashion. But for a Hull side who took such a big step forward with victory at Wigan Warriors last week, that was frustrating, to say the least, with their top six charge taking a big hit once again on their home ground.
Hull, who have just one victory to their name at the MKM Stadium all season, and even that came by the skin of their teeth, were poor; there’s no beating around the bush. They didn’t have the same intensity as last week, with Wakefield now holding the advantage after the latest regular round.
Hull just weren’t at it. They were lethargic at times and didn’t have the strike to trouble Huddersfield, who earned a fourth win of the year. Only a Lewis Martin hat-trick showed for their efforts, with the winger scoring his 21st, 22nd, and 23rd tries of the season. All three tries were set up by Davy Litten with Aidan Sezer involved. In fact, the third one was an absolute peach of an effort, but it was a small consolation to take.
With a slow ruck and stop-start contest forming, the first half was a low-quality affair, and it turned into a disaster for Hull, who trailed 18-4 at the break. They had the chances to score first but didn’t take them, and Huddersfield made them pay. The away side got a repeat set, and they didn’t pass on the invitation, with the ball crisply worked to Adam Swift, who flew over for the game’s first try against his former club.
Hull struggled to fight their way back into it, but eventually, they did just that. A strong link in the middle of the field put Litten into a good area, with the centre bursting onto the ball and offloading to Martin to score.
But that was as good as it got for Hull in the opening 40 minutes, who were made to rue a poor end to an attacking set, with George Flanagan taking a kick on the full and returning strong before the hosts were pinned for offside. That saw the Giants rampage downfield, and they soon struck again as Joe Greenwood chased a neat Matt Frawley kick and, with no Hull players around him, grounded the ball with ease.
And things then went from bad to worse for the Black and Whites. They were off for much of the first fforty,and they were made to pay for it, with Jake Bibby picking up the ball after Jordan Rapana dropped Sezer’s pass and racing away to cement a 14-point half-time lead.
The second half continued in the same frustrating manner. Hull thought they reduced the deficit with a Harvey Barron try. However, the live call was overturned by the video referee after a Sezer break got them into position.
And once Huddersfield went over at the other end, that was that, with the Giants extending their lead to 20 after Flanagan attacked the line at pace to score. Hull pulled one back with Litten again providing the goods for Martin, but the home side’s joy was short-lived.
They coughed up possession in the set after points, with Tui Lolohea charging through the line to score Huddersfield’s fifth. But Hull kept going, and it was the Litten and Martin combination that came up trumps again, with the duo clicking to effect to score a superb long-range try.
But ultimately it was all in vain. It was Huddersfield’s day, and for Hull, a poor one at that, with their play-off hits taking a hit with seven rounds of the regular season to go.
Teams
Hull Starting XIII: 3. Zak Hardaker; 2. Harvey Barron, 1. Jordan Rapana, 20. Davy Litten, 22. Leiws Martin; 24. Jack Charles, 7. Aidan Sezer; 8. Herman Ese’ese, 14. Cade Cust, 40. Liam Knight; 17. Jack Ashworth, 11. Jed Cartwright; 16. Yusuf Aydin
Interchange: 5. Tom Briscoe, 9. Amir Bourouh, 39. Sam Eseh, 41. Liam Watts. 18th Man: 27. Matty Laidlaw
Huddersfield Starting XIII: 28. George Flanagan; 1. Jacob Gagai, 23 Taane Milne, 3. Jake Bibby, 2. Adam Swift; 6. Tui Lolohea, 35. Matt Frawley; 18. Fenton Rogers, 9. Zach Woolford, 22. Tristan Powell; 13. Harry Rushton, 17. Joe Greenwood, 21. Leroy Cudjoe.
Interchange: 14. Ashton Golding, 15. Matty English, 16. George King, 10. Tom Burgess. 18th Man: 27. Kieran Rush
Scorers
Hull Tries: Martin 3. Goals: Charles 1/3
Huddersfield Tries: Swift, Greenwood, Bibby, Flanagan, Lolohea. Goals: Flanagan 5/5
Scoring System: 0-6, 4-6, 4-12, 4-18, HT, 4-24, 10-24, 10-30, 14-30, FT
Referee: Tom Grant. Video Referee: Chris Kendall
Attendance: 10,665