HULL FC 36 HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS 12
STEPHEN IBBETSON, MKM Stadium, Saturday

HULL FC secured a much-needed first victory in five against a Huddersfield side desperate for such a morale-booster of their own.

With fullback Logan Moy, halfback Jake Arthur and hooker Amir Bourouh playing well, Hull showed signs of a team capable of finishing on a high what has been a very disappointing season so far.

Ethan O’Neill was also exceptional at centre – perhaps too much so for home fans, who will hope his parent club Leeds weren’t paying close attention.

In contrast, Huddersfield’s lack of quality in attack was highly evident in this seventh successive defeat, and their third under new coach Jim Lenihan.

Their only good piece of play came inside ten minutes as Oliver Russell crossed after receiving the ball back from Joe Greenwood with an impressive offload.

George Flanagan converted, but that’s as good as things ever got for the Giants.

Hull’s response was swift, thanks to Bourouh, who spotted a chance to break from dummy-half, Moy, who wasted no time in offering support to score the try, and Aidan Sezer, who struck the conversion.

Some strong defence was required by the hosts to keep things level, with giant prop Fenton Rogers impressively kept at bay during one challenging set.

Once that pressure was relieved, Hull were again clinical as Jed Cartwright, back from a hamstring injury after more than three months out, punched through and offloaded for an Arthur try.

Sezer converted for 12-6 and it stayed that way through to the break, despite Will Kirby crossing, as O’Neill’s attempted assist had gone forward under crucial Russell pressure.

If it was needed, O’Neill made amends 13 minutes into the second half by running onto a delicate Arthur kick behind the Huddersfield defence.

That came after a period of Giants pressure, which Hull did well to withstand, with Connor Wrench and Tom Burgess both denied tries by young Moy and his supporting team-mates.

The Giants wasted another opportunity when Hugo Salabio dropped possession from the kick-off after Sezer goaled O’Neill’s try – and they were again punished as Bourouh darted over from close range with 20 minutes still to play.

Sezer added another conversion and any mathematical doubt over the result was removed by a penalty from the scrum-half which made it 26-6.

The four-score lead seemed to free Hull up further, as they cut loose with two excellent tries in succession.

Straight from the restart a wonderful passage of play finished with O’Neill offloading for Moy to break and winger Harvey Barron supporting.

O’Neill then finished the next off himself, slicing through down the right too easily with Sezer added his sixth goal following a first miss.

Hull continued to show up in defence too, with Will Hutchinson showing desperation to deny Lee Kershaw, although Wrench did secure a consolation try five minutes from time.

GAMESTAR: Ethan O’Neill seemed to love playing in the unfamiliar role of centre, 

GAMEBREAKER: Huddersfield never looked in it after Ethan O’Neill opened the second-half scoring.

HIGHLIGHT REEL: Amir Bourouh’s thrilling break from inside his own half for a Logan Moy try set Hull on their way.

ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Ethan O’Neill (Hull FC)
2 pts Logan Moy (Hull FC)
1 pt Amir Bourouh (Hull FC)

MATCHFACTS

HULL FC
24 Logan Moy
2 Harvey Barron
39 Ethan O’Neill
32 Lloyd Kemp
19 Tom Briscoe
6 Jake Arthur
7 Aidan Sezer
38 Jeremiah Mata’utia
9 Amir Bourouh
10 Harvie Hill
11 Joe Batchelor
12 Jed Cartwright
30 Will Kirby
Subs (all used)
8 Herman Ese’ese
26 Hugo Salabio
29 Will Hutchinson
40 Max Wood (D)
18th man (not used)
36 Lennon Clark
Also in 21-man squad
25 Matty Laidlaw
27 Callum Kemp
35 Ben Johnson

Tries: Moy (16), Arthur (27), O’Neill (53, 68), Bourouh (59), Barron (65)
Goals: Sezer 6/7

GIANTS
21 George Flanagan
41 Lee Kershaw
34 Connor Wrench
3 Jacob Gagai
4 Taane Milne
6 Tui Lolohea
32 Oliver Russell
14 Fenton Rogers
9 Zac Woolford
23 Chris Patolo
17 Joe Greenwood
11 Asher O’Donnell
8 Tristan Powell
Subs (all used)
10 Tom Burgess
16 George King
20 Mathieu Cozza
40 Cole Geyer
18th man (not used)
18 Kieran Rush
Also in 21-man squad
1 Niall Evalds
13 Harry Rushton
15 Matty English

Tries: Russell (10), Wrench (75)
Goals: Flanagan 2/2

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 6-6, 12-6; 18-6, 24-6, 26-6, 30-6, 36-6, 36-12

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Hull FC: Ethan O’Neill; Giants: Joe Greenwood

Penalty count: 3-4
Half-time: 12-6
Referee: Tara Jones
Attendance: 12,057