Hull FC Reserves posted their biggest win of the season as they dismantled Leigh Leopards Reserves in a scintillating 60-4 victory.
The hosts were in total control at the halfway point, with six tries giving Hull a commanding 32-0 lead.
Some sensational second-half scores put the Black & Whites further in front, although a last-minute Leigh try stopped Hull from recording a second clean sheet of the campaign.
The Match
A slow start from Hull got the appropriate response when they sprung into life on the nine-minute mark, taking the lead as Kye Armstrong’s unorthodox bounce-pass assist saw Joe Ward draw first blood in the left corner.
Hull added to their early lead with just over a quarter-of-an-hour played. Matty Laidlaw danced his way through the defensive line with a show-and-go, and his offload put Denive Balmforth in under the posts.
Despite their energetic start, Leigh’s early momentum began to fade when a couple of nice offloads from Davy Litten and Armstrong put Liam Tindall in for Hull’s third try.
The tries didn’t stop there for the Airlie Birds – Jed Cartwright grew into the game nicely and showed some tidy touches on his first appearance in a Hull FC shirt. It was his bullet pass that allowed Tindall to secure a quickfire brace in the right corner.
Although Hull were purring in attack, they had to be alert when Leigh came knocking at the other end. Tom Nisbet managed to slip a pass away to winger Liam Copland, but just as it looked as if he was going to squeeze in to score at the corner, Litten came from nowhere to thwart him.
Academy halfback Callum Kemp latched onto a lovely Lennon Clark offload, converting his own try to make it 26-0, and there was still time for Hull to make it 32-0 before the referee’s whistle sounded. Armstrong’s mazy run took him through a gaping hole in the Leigh defensive line, and he dotted down to score in the right corner.
HALF-TIME: Hull Reserves 32-0 Leopards Reserves
Having received a big round of applause from the crowd at half-time, Hull were once again earning their plaudits early in the second-half with a sublime try – no doubt the best of the afternoon. Litten fielded a dangerous grubber kick on his own try-line and took off down the left wing. He offloaded to Kemp, and the young halfback found Joe Ward in support. Ward broke through several tackles and had Callum Shaw haring up in support just at the right time, with the winger finishing off in style in the left corner.
The Leopards’ failure to complete tackles continued to be punished as Kemp squirmed through and crawled over the try-line to score his second of the match.
It looked as though Leigh were going to open their account for the afternoon when Nisbet broke through the line, but Litten hit him with everything in his power and forced an error, much to the pleasure of his team mates.
Litten then reaped the rewards of his defensive work when an opening down the right flank allowed him to slice through and step past his opposite number to finish off from a fair 60 metres out.
The visitors did manage to stem the flow for a fifteen minute spell, but Hull were back in again thanks to another key involvement from the impressive Litten. His offload allowed Shaw to scramble in to score in the left corner.
Litten was covering just about every blade of grass on the field in a strong performance. He darted for the line and snaked out his right arm to dot down on the white line, and Kemp’s conversion took Hull to the 60-mark on the scoreboard.
It was heading towards a complete performance with a matter of minutes left, but Hull will have been frustrated to have dropped their guard in the closing stages as they conceded for the first time.
They overplayed from a scrum inside the Leigh half and turned the ball over – after a six-again, the visitors got to within striking distance and Matthew Horrocks was able to slice through a gap to score for the Leopards.
FULL-TIME: Hull Reserves 60-4 Leopards Reserves
Squads & Scorers
Hull: Litten, Tindall, Barron, Shaw, Ward, Armstrong, Kemp, Laidlaw, Balmforth, Gardiner, Clark, Cartwright, Jebson
Hull Interchanges: Baker, Haldenby, Hodgson, Kirby
Hull Tries: Ward, Balmforth, Tindall (2), Kemp (2), Armstrong, Shaw (2), Litten (2)
Hull Goals: Kemp (8/11)
Leopards: Booth, Whittle, Nisbet, Wood, Copland, Tyrer, Horrocks, Lockett, Porter, Sutcliffe, Disley, Pemberton, Bentley
Leopards Reserves: Ashworth, Bardsley, Stanton, Tabern
Leopards Tries: Horrocks
Leopards Goals: Tyrer (1/1)
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