Yesterday Hull FC hosted Huddersfield Giants hoping to end a seven game losing streak.
A key narrative going into the game the game was the return of Jake Connor and who else but Connor to score the first points of the match.
His penalty opened the scoring in just the 6th minute but the home side responded quickly through Liam Sutcliffe.
Their summer signing was played in by their new star in the halves, Jake Clifford, with the Australian duly converting to make it 6-2 within 10 minutes.
The Giants struck back through their try-scoring machine forward Chris McQueen who crossed over after a Connor kick had forced a goal-line drop-out.
That had come in the 25th minute but FC had once again responded before the half-hour mark and it was Clifford once again who levelled the scores with a penalty making it 8-8, a score that would remain the same till the half.
Whatever Tony Smith said at half-time did the business as the home side came out firing and Chris Satae scored just three minutes into the second half.
Clifford made it three from three with the boot and he was on hand again to convert Liam Sutcliffe’s second which came in the 55th minute.
That try made the game a two-score game and set up for a huge final 20 minutes with both teams desperate for the win, FC to escape their relegation fears and Huddersfield to kick on towards the play-offs.
Just minutes before Sutcliffe’s second try Huddersfield had one of their own disallowed with it being judged that Sam Halsall had knocked on when grounding.
Jake Connor was involved again in the 75th minute as he played in Esan Marsters before converting to create a tense final five minutes.
Despite that late score it wasn’t enough as the home side held on for a much-needed 20-14 win to take the pressure of Tony Smith and his troops.
A big win for Hull FC in the context of their season, now former star man Paul Cooke has taken to social media to tell their players to avoid celebrating the win on social media as they should be focused on backing it up on the field.
He said:
“What I would say about Hull Fc winning their first game in 7 weeks is I hope the players don’t go public on social media saying how great todays win was.
“It’s 1 in the last 8 games after losing the last 7.. I would hope the players say nothing and back it up in the next game!”
What I would say about Hull Fc winning their first game in 7 weeks is I hope the players don’t go public on social media saying how great todays win was.
It’s 1 in the last 8 games after losing the last 7..
I would hope the players say nothing and back it up in the next game!— Paul Cooke (@pcooke06) April 23, 2023
However that was never going to happen after such a pressure relieving win with Joe Cator and Brad Dwyer quick to celebrate.
Let’s gooooooo, how good was that😍😍 https://t.co/UaNNFC4Qrw
— Joe Cator (@JoeCator) April 23, 2023
You vin weasel on 🔥 today. Class from the fans 11k there backing us after the tough start we’ve had 👍🏻 @hullfcofficial https://t.co/z2NmMHEFMU
— Brad dwyer (@DwyerBrad) April 23, 2023
An interesting backdrop to this is the fact that Tony Smith recently said that social media was affecting his players.
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