McGoldrick Stars In Hull FC Win

Putting in their best performance of the season, and injury hit Black and Whites side raced into a halftime lead courtesy of scores by McGoldrick and Jordan Turner inside the first quarter.

 

And despite a spirited fightback from the Robins, who added tries from James Laithwaite, Mickey Paea and Josh Hodgson after the break, Hull would not be denied an impressive win.

 

Second half tries from Kirk Yeaman, Richard Whiting and Tom Briscoe put the gloss on it, with debutant Jamie Foster kicking all six of his attempts at goal in a comprehensive display from the Airlie Birds.

 

The game began in the worst possible fashion for the Black and Whites, Foster drilling his kickoff out on the full. And while the winger did well to bundle opposite number David Hodgson into touch four tackles later to reduce the threat, two more penalties soon put the hosts back on the front foot, Michael Dobson punishing the second of the two infringements with the first points of the game from the boot.

 

However, Hull soon worked their way back into the game and clinically made the most of their first opportunity in the seventh minute to take the lead against the run of play.

 

This time, Foster's spiralling kickoff forced an error from Rovers fullback Shannon McDonnell and Hull worked the ball right of the scrum for Ryan McGoldrick to dummy his way over. Foster then stepped up to slot his conversion through the uprights to give Hull an early 6-2 lead against the run of play.

 

The Black and Whites then had two further opportunities to extend the lead only for Heremaia and Willie Manu to hesitate at the crucial moment, but Hull were ruthless once again in the 16th minute to add to their tally when Jordan Turner went in.

 

Foster's second kick of the match took the scores to 12-2 and another golden chance then came and went for the Airlie Birds as more intricate offloading ended up with Chris Green busting the line. He was held up just short, and Houghton couldn't take McGoldrick's pass from the play-the-ball as the opportunity came and went.

 

In an end to end game, Tom Briscoe then had a try ruled out for a foot in touch as Hull pressed forward and with the Black and Whites on the attack once more, a penalty in front of the posts allowed Foster to nudge them further ahead with a simple kick for a 14-2 halftime lead.

 

It was Horne who failed to deal with a Dobson grubber kick into the in-goal and his error allowed James Laithwaite to pounce on the loose ball. Dobson's subsequent conversion reduced the gap to just six points at 14-8 with a little over 30 minutes left on the clock.

 

However, with the momentum seemingly swinging in KR's favour, the Black and Whites swung the game on its head by racing down the field for Kirk Yeaman to score his customary derby try.

 

With another series of silky passing skills opening up the Rovers defense, Hull could have scored earlier than they did had McGoldrick spotted men in space to his right.

 

His grubber kick was good enough to earn a repeat set though and from the drop out, Houghton and Heremaia combined to put Manu through a whole, the powerful Tongan brushing tacklers aside to leave a trail of men in his wake before feeding Yeaman for a simple finish.

 

Foster's fourth goal of the evening restored Hull's 12-point advantage at 20-8 but in what was proving to be a typical Hull derby, back came the Red and Whites, Dobson's dummy slicing through the FC defense and the KR half back kept his composure to send over the supporting Mickey Paea for a converted try under the posts.

 

And with the hosts on the front foot, the Robins third try of the evening soon followed as Josh Hodgson made the most of space on the right to stretch over.

 

Dobson crucially missed for the first time to leave Hull still narrowly ahead at 20-18, but the game was set for a frantic finish.

 

McGoldrick was at the heart of it once more as his flat pass on the fourth tackle found the onrushing Whiting, now playing at center after the loss of Turner, to touch down. Foster's goal pushed Hull 26-18 in front and despite heavy Hull KR pressure in the latter stages, the Airlie Birds would deservedly have the final word with the try of the match.

 

Houghton started it with a clever scoot from dummy half on the left edge, before Horne and Westerman spread the ball to the right where an inside flick from Whiting sent Foster away on the inside.

 

The winger kept his cool to find Briscoe in support and the England international, now playing at full back, had too much pace as he dived over to the right of the sticks.

 

Foster capped a fine debut with his sixth goal of the match to crown a stunning 32-18 victory.