Hull FC 42-18 Crusaders

Hull FC (16) 42
Tries: Tickle 2, Whiting, Obst, Sharp, Horne, Yeaman, Briscoe Goals: Tickle 4, Westerman

Crusaders (0) 18
Tries: R Williams, Sammut Goals: Schifcofske 3

Tickle joined Hull from Wigan in 2007

Hull ended a run of six consecutive defeats and lifted the pressure on coach Richard Agar by comprehensively beating Crusaders at the KC Stadium.

Two tries from forward Danny Tickle and a Richard Whiting effort put the Black and Whites well clear at half-time.

Sam Obst and Will Sharp scored early in the second half before Richard Horne, Kirk Yeaman and Tom Briscoe completed the rout.

Rhys Williams (2) and Jarrod Sammut scored the visitors' consolation tries.

The unusually low crowd of 10,442 - a sign of Hull's early season struggles - may not have been too pleased to see Agar still in charge following defeats to Hull KR, Leeds and Huddersfield, but after an eight-try win - their first since beating the same opposition last August - better times may lie ahead for the Black and Whites.

After muddling their way through a scrappy start they were able to play with rare confidence, although their opposition did little to stop them in their tracks.

Crusaders' opening-weekend win over Salford now seems a long time ago and rookie coach Iestyn Harris will be concerned at the way his forwards struggled to make any sort of impression on their way to a third successive defeat.

The first try of the game came after 15 minutes. It was indicative of how disorganised Hull's attack has been that workhorse forward Craig Fitzgibbon ended up with the ball on the last tackle but, after he managed to poke a kick ahead, possession fell kindly for Tickle, who picked up his first try of the season.

The try gave Hull some much-needed belief and, after Yeaman's strength earned them a penalty, they scored a second try when Richard Whiting went in off Danny Houghton's pass.

The former Wigan forward was soon going in for his second try when he followed up Houghton's kick.

Some shrewd handling from Sam Moa sent Obst in for his first Hull try two minutes after the restart, before Willie Manu played in Sharp in the corner.

It was Sharp's fourth try in as many appearances since moving to the club from Harlequins and with the result in no doubt, Hull began to cut loose.

Horne produced a show-and-go to cross in a move reminiscent of his early days when he was a Great Britain international to grab his side's sixth, before loanee Williams got Crusaders off the mark.

Yeaman soon restored Hull's six-try advantage, driving over from dummy half, only for Sammut to show just why Hull made such a concerted effort to sign him by ghosting his way over the line.

There was still time for Williams to go in for his second of the game, but Hull underlined their superiority with a late score from Tom Briscoe.

Hull coach Richard Agar said: "If you know me, you know I will always continue to give my best and, if the time came where we didn't think we were going forward....I've been in the game a long time and it's not something I lie awake thinking about. I just want the team to improve.

"In the week we had a chat and said we were going to have our best week and lead by example as a coaching staff. After three losses from three there was going to be speculation about my position, I understand that.

"Better men and coaches than me have had a tougher time than me, so I'll keep doing my best for the boys and hopefully we'll keep improving."

Crusaders coach Iestyn Harris said: "It was a frustrating day, for the large majority we stayed with them.

"It's individual things that cost us, such as missed tackles. After 15 minutes I thought we were on top, but silly errors let them into our area and we need to fix it up pretty quickly.

"I thought they ran a little bit tougher than us in the second half and we were a little bit soft. I thought Hull were prepared to roll their sleeves up a little bit more than us, especially in the second half."

Hull: Whiting, Sharp, Turner, Yeaman, T Briscoe, Horne, Obst, O'Meley, Houghton, Radford, Westerman, Tickle, Fitzgibbon.

Replacements: Washbrook, Lauaki, Manu, Moa.

Crusaders: Schifcofske, Reardon, Thomas, Mellars, R Williams, Martin, Witt, O'Hara, Withers, Bryant, Lupton, Chan, Flower.

Replacements: Dudson, Sammut, Moore, Peek.

Referee: Ben Thaler (Wakefield)

Att: 10,422.