Huge Super League derby records biggest crowd since 2009

It’s Easter weekend which signifies the time of the year when we’re treated to the Hull derby, and this one was a classic if you’re a Hull KR fan. Rovers ran out huge victors against a hapless Hull FC as they nilled their neighbours at their own ground.

The first and main talking point was the horror show that Sky had with their coverage in which many viewers at home found the game to be delayed and in plenty of cases the visuals were constantly skipping. Given Sky are set to broadcast every game during this Rivals Round it wasn’t the start the broadcasters will have wanted for their big weekend.

First blood in the game came on the eighth minute mark and it was Jordan Abdull at the heart of it once again. Rather than the huge bomb style kicks that troubled Leeds last week, this was a delicate chip that was tipped back by returning skipper Shaun Kenny-Dowall allowing Mikey Lewis to offload to Ryan Hall in the corner.

After a period of panic in defence Rovers used their number seven’s key asset to get out of trouble. A booming kick from halfway saw Jamie Shaul all over the place and his attempted kick at the ball fell straight to Tom Opacic who smartly picked up and walked over. Some will question Shaul but as dubbed by Jon Wells it was an “uncatchable” ball.

Local lad Scott Taylor had earlier come on and engaged in a minor push and shove with Elliot Minchella, who had earlier had a sure-fire try pulled back for a forward pass. The boiling point was reached when Kane Evans hit Matt Parcell incredibly high around the neck, with the ensuing melee being something Jack Smith managed to keep enough of a lid on it. KR opting for the penalty affirmed their control on the game and the scoreboard.

Jake Clifford was the recipient of a tackle from James Batchelor that was deemed by Jack Smith a hip-drop tackle. Clifford left the field injured and Batchelor left the field for the sin bin, but the resulting play saw Jesse Sue go low on a stationary Brad Dwyer which the FC players took exception to triggering yet another round of pushing and shoving.

As we closed in on half time the only way to describe the final five minutes was just simple mayhem. KR constantly were defending their line and they had a second GLDO that failed to reach ten metres. Jesse Sue landed another tackle that he should have arguably seen yellow for just before the hooter for half-time blew, and the teams could have a much needed 15 minutes to settle their tempers.

James Batchelor returned from his sin bin and managed to score Rovers third try of the day having been slid in by Jordan Abdull at close range. That wasn’t Abdull’s only contribution to the try though, again it was his huge kick that set up the brilliant field position. FC captain Carlos Tuimavave juggled and spilt the kick allowing Rovers the territory and it was from the scrum that Batchelor scored and made it 20-0.

Just minutes after Coote’s boot converted Batchelor’s try to make it 20-0, he was scoring a try and converting again to make it 26-0. A smart move on the left flank saw Ryan Hall set loose and full-back Coote was there in support to effectively kill off any hopes for Hull FC.

Following Coote’s score in the 51st the FC fans flooded out of the stadium and the points kept flooding in for Rovers. Ryan Hall added his second with a brilliant finish, however worryingly for FC it came off a set-piece scrum play 40 yards out. Hall then turned provider allowing Mikey Lewis to score another derby day try, before completing his hattrick courtesy of a brilliant Lewis pass late on for a final score line of 40-0.

The game was played in front of a 20,895 strong crowd.

This is the biggest crowd for a Hull FC game since 2009 and was a sell out though not every seat was available for the game in a stadium which has a capacity of over 25,000.