Hull FC 28-4 Harlequins
Winter signing Craig Fitzgibbon scored his first try for Hull in a 28-4 victory over a poor Harlequins side.
The home side were without Sean Long (hamstring) and full-back Jordan Tansey who had been suspended by the club for an internal incident.
In a very quiet and uneventful encounter with an extraordinarily low penalty count, Hull’s fitness and kicking game spurred them to victory.
Aussie Fitzgibbon opened the scoring for Hull after eight minutes.
In what was the first line break of a very dour opening period, Willie Manu offloaded to Fitzgibbon who went under the sticks with Tickle adding the extras.
Kirk Yeaman was the next to open his Super League XV account when he barged over from close range.
Harlequins tried their hardest to fan the Hull fire with Danny Orr producing some testing kicks.
However, it was Hull’s Richard Horne who was executing his kicking game more effectively and he produced a delicious chip to set up a scruffy interchange and a chance for Craig Hall to extend the Hull lead.
But the bustiling centre fumbled as he went over, with referee Steve Ganson also falling in the scramble.
The remainder of the half was quiet with Hull dominating but not looking clinical enough in attack.
The Quins again attempted to claw their way back in and Orr’s pin point chip earned them a drop out, but Hull’s defence stayed strong.
It was a much brighter start to the second half.
A scrum on the half way line produced a fine try for the home side. The ball spread to Hall, who had seen his earlier effort ruled out by the video referee, and the centre used his speed effectively.
Darting through the Quins defence, the 21-year old flew over the try-line. Tickle’s conversion sttempt rattled the post to leave the score at 16-0.
The try was an instigator for a long spell of pressure for the home side and they furthered their lead when Tickle converted his own try after barging over from three yeards out after the visitors had gifted Hull a full set of six just in front of their own sticks.
The visitors’ attempt at a response was feeble to say the least and had Hull been as clinical as they can be, Harlequins may have suffered a similar fate to the one they did at Warrington in their first game.
The visitors did touch down in what was thought to be controverial fashion.
Tony Clubb chased his own kick and scored in the corner. It appeared that Tom Briscoe had grounded the ball before Clubb got there but closer inspection revealed that Briscoe had fumbled.
But Richard Horne dodged his way over the line not long after to put real daylight between the sides again and take the score 28-4.
Some poor handling errors cost Hull some extra points as they appeared rusty.
Ben Jones Bishop broke through with five minutes remaining but the ever-fit Mark Calderwood chased well and despite Jones Bishop’s advantage, the former Wigan winger tracked back superbly.
Hull FC: Whiting, Calderwood, Hall, Yeaman, Briscoe, Turner, Horne, O’Meley, Berrigan, Radford, Manu, Tickle, Fitzgibbon
Replacements: Dowes, Lauaki, Cusack, Houghton
Harlequins: Jones-Bishop, O’Callaghan, Clubb, Howell, Sharp, Melling, Orr, Wilkes, Randall, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Williamson, Esders, Golden
Replacements: Temata, Ward, Bolger, Smith.
