Hull (4) 14
Tries: Briscoe, Berrigan, Whiting Goals: Tickle

Hull KR (12) 18
Tries: Webster, Cooke, Fox Goals: Dobson (3)

Hull KR's Makali Aizue is tackled by Hull's Paul King and Richard Horne

Hull KR survived a late fightback from bitter rivals Hull FC to win a ferocious Humber derby and climb to third in the Super League table.

Jake Webster opened the scoring for Rovers before Tom Briscoe finished off a fine passing move to level.

Paul Cooke's try extend Rovers' lead just before the break and Peter Fox added a third try after the restart.

Tries from Shaun Berrigan and Richard Whiting closed the gap but Rovers clung on for a thrilling victory.

More than 22,000 fans were packed into the KC Stadium for the derby, and they were not disappointed by a match that lived up to all the pre-match hype and expectation.

Genuine scoring chances were at a premium in the first half, but that was mainly down to the stellar quality of the defending by both sides rather than any attacking shortcomings.

Rovers drew first blood, when Michael Dobson's kick switched play to the right, and Webster beat Kirk Yeaman in the air to take a fine aerial catch and to touch down.

606: DEBATE Good game that one, I thought Hull were gonna score at the end wiganrugbyfan1

Danny Tickle went close for Hull when he was held up just short of the line following Richard Horne's pass, but the home fans did not have to wait long for a score.

That came when Briscoe rounded off a fine cross-field passing move by touching down on the left when he got on the end of Yeaman's chip ahead.

But it was former Hull FC favourite Cooke who was next over the line, stretching to restore Rovers' advantage after a handling error needlessly turned possession over to the visitors.

Rovers added to their lead after the break when another handling error, this time by Craig Hall, turned over possession.

Stanley Gene's pass found Galea, who danced through the defence and was hauled down just short of the line by Briscoe, who suffered a nasty-looking ankle injury in the process, but Fox was on hand to go over the line.

Just when Rovers looked to taking the upper hand, Hull were awarded a penalty for a grapple tackle when Berrigan had lost the ball.

Berrigan made the most of this second chance, hurtling over the line to score, and Whiting further closed the gap when Mark Calderwood's kick ahead sat up for him perfectly to score.

This inspired Hull to lay siege to the Rovers line but their enthusiasm got the better of them as Paul King lost the ball right under the posts, allowing Shaun Briscoe to clear their lines.

Having closed the gap to just four points, the home side put everything into trying to find a potentially match-winning fourth try, but despite their best efforts, they just ran out of time.

Hull coach Richard Agar:

"I don't think there is much in it, it's a fine line that some weeks there are one or two plays that you can ride out and the momentum goes for you and another week you get stung.

"It was a tough contest, I don't think either side asked for any quarter or gave any quarter.

"We had a lot of tired blokes out there and to dig themselves out of an 18-4 deficit to almost snatch the game was a tremendous effort. I thought our effort was great, some errors killed us."

Hull KR coach Justin Morgan:

"What a great game of rugby league - not technically classical but both teams had a massive crack out there today.

"Our execution was poor, we dropped more ball than I have seen us drop all year but I thought we showed something that you don't learn on the training pitch or in video sessions.

"That's spirit and determination and I thought we were excellent in that regard."

Hull: Hall, Calderwood, G. Horne, G. Horne, Yeaman, Briscoe, R. Horne, Thorman, Dowes, Berrigan, Thackray, Thackray, Manu, Tickle, Radford, Radford, Cusack, King.

Replacements: Thackray for G. Horne (53), Radford for G. Horne (66), Berrigan for Briscoe (46), King for Dowes (44), Lee for Berrigan (27), Cusack for Thackray (14), Dowes for Thackray (60), Whiting for Radford (30), G. Horne for Radford (60), Radford for Cusack (40), Thackray for King (70).

Hull K R: Briscoe, Fox, Welham, Webster, Colbon, Cooke, Dobson, Fozzard, Fozzard, Murrell, Wheeldon, Netherton, Newton, Galea, Aizue, Aizue, Gene, Lovegrove.

Replacements: Lovegrove for Fozzard (24), Aizue for Fozzard (61), Fozzard for Murrell (70), Aizue for Wheeldon (19), Fozzard for Netherton (35), Murrell for Galea (58), Gene for Aizue (33), Lovegrove for Aizue (68), Netherton for Gene (56), Murrell for Lovegrove (53). Substitutes: Fitzhenry.

Att: 22,337

Ref: S Ganson (St Helens).

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