Hull KR's Mick Vella (left) gets to grips with Hull's Ewan Dowes

Hull produced a powerful second half performance to come from behind and beat local rivals Rovers.

The visitors took a 12-4 lead through Ben Cockayne and Ben Galea, with Tom Briscoe scoring for Hull.

Scott Wheeldon added a second Hull try and although Chaz I'Anson went over for Rovers, Kirk Yeaman's score meant the hosts trailed only 18-16 at the break.

Graeme Horne put Hull ahead after the restart and Matt Sing, Yeaman, Briscoe and Craig Hall added more Hull tries.

Hull had lost the last three meetings between the two teams but brought this run to a sudden stop as their best performance of the season condemned Hull KR to their sixth defeat in seven games.

Pre-match, the main talking point was the absence of Rovers stand-off Paul Cooke, who has dominated the local headlines since his controversial resignation as a Hull player to join Rovers 15 months ago.

Rovers declined to explain why he had been dropped, but the decision only adds to mounting speculation about his future at the club.

The first half was a fiercely-fought affair with the teams taking it in turn to score.

Galea powered over for the opening try for Rovers, before Briscoe's third try in as many games got Hull on the board, only for the visitors to extend their lead almost immediately through Cockayne.

Wheeldon finished off a fine break from Shaun Berrigan to reply for Hull, only for Cooke's stand-in I'Anson to touch down after Dobson's deft kick.

Yeaman's 12th try of the year just before the break ensured Hull ended the first half on a positive note, and the second half was one-way traffic for the home side.

Jon Steel was twice the weak link in the Rovers defensive chain as he allowed first Horne and then Sing to score tries for Hull.

The reliable kicking of Danny Tickle stretched their lead to 10 points and with Rovers in disarray, further tries by Yeaman, Briscoe - who raced the length of the field to score - and Hall completed a memorable derby victory.

Hull coach Richard Agar:
"We've trained with a good attitude and practised really well.

"I thought at half-time that when we'd done something good we followed it up with something bad. It was a little bit tit-for-tat.

"But we felt if we ironed that out, that we could win the game. We cut out the errors and took our chances."

Hull KR coach Justin Morgan:
"There were a lot of unforced errors as usual - poor discipline and a few silly errors from kick-offs, letting the ball go out on the full.

"There were some tries on the fifth play too.

"At half-time we were quietly confident, but Hull put us to the sword by controlling the tempo of the game."

Hull: Sing, Hall, G. Horne, Yeaman, Briscoe, Washbrook, Berrigan, Dowes, Houghton, Thackray, Manu, Tickle, Radford.
Replacements: Lee, Broughton, Wheeldon, Cusack.

Hull KR: Cockayne, Fox, Lovegrove, Welham, Steel, Galea, Dobson, Vella, K. Netherton, Crossman, Gene, J. Netherton, I'Anson.
Replacements: Aizue, Mills, Chester, Fisher.