Ever since the balls emerged from the ‘bag’ during the fifth-round
draw for the 2025 Challenge Cup, all the excitement has been about the clash
between the top two sides in the league table as Hull Kingston Rovers made the
short trip across the city to face the Black & Whites of Hull FC.
It was the first Challenge Cup meeting between the two sides
since a first-round encounter in 1986 when KR were the victors, the same
outcome as the three previous meetings in Super League, the last win for the
Airlie Birds in July 2023.
The table toppers were favourites with the bookies, Hull FC
given an eight-point start on the handicap coupon, and to win, the home side
would need to enforce the first Hull KR loss of the 2025 season.
An electric atmosphere greeted the gladiators to the arena,
the anticipation was palpable, and the opening exchanges didn’t disappoint in
their brutality.
An eighth minute captains challenge after Mikey Lewis lost
the ball in the tackle was successful and gave KR the first real chance of a
score but on the second play Elliot Minchella spilled the ball.
On fifteen the Hull KR talisman Lewis pulled up injured, laying
in back play as the game continued. He regained his feet and tried to rejoin
the play but limped off moments later.
A high tackle by FC on nineteen saw Jez Litten thrown the
ball as the sticks were pointed to. Litten was wide with the penalty kick, the
sides still level as the game passed the twenty-minute mark.
On twenty-three the Robins did hit the front as the ball
moved from left to right into the hands of Tom Davies on the overlap to dive
over in the corner. With ice running through his veins, Litten kicked the
touchline conversion for a 6-0 lead.
Only two more minutes had elapsed when Joe Burgess collected
a high kick through and stepped out of an attempted tackle and jinked his way
to the sticks for the score. Litten was again on the mark with the conversion,
KR with a 12-0 lead out of nowhere. FC were now in danger of being overwhelmed.
Four minutes before the interval the lead was further extended,
Jack Broadbent taking a Sam Luckley pass to go in from ten metres out after a
couple of sensational offloads in the build up from inside their own half.
Litten was again on target for 18-0, the game close to being won.
A sensational run from new signing Will Pryce moved FC
eighty metres downfield inside the last minute but an Aidan Sezer grubber into
goal was too strong.
Three minutes after the restart, KR had one foot in the
semi-finals as Burgess got his second of the afternoon, finding an acre of
space down the left to capitalise on an FC error at the play-the-ball. Litten
was again on target from the touchline for 24-0, FC fans looking crestfallen.
Litten got in on the scoring action on fifty as he ran the
angle to go over down the left-hand side after taking the ball in centre field,
twenty out from the line. He added the conversion to his own try for 30-0,
there was no way back for the Black & White’s who were in danger of being
embarrassed.
On fifty-two Hull FC avoided the nilling when Lewis Martin
took a looping Jordan Rapana pass to dive over in the left corner. Will Pryce
added the conversion for 6-30.
Three minutes later and FC were in again, Herman Ese’ese blitzing
his way through the FC defence to ground on the line. Pryce hit the mark again
with the conversion, the home fans believed that a fightback was on the cards.
After a successful captains’ challenge from KR on the FC
twenty on the hour mark, the Robins were rewarded for their efforts with a
penalty ten out. Litten kicked the penalty goal to extend the lead to four
converted tries.
Zak Hardaker snatched a last minutes try as he went through a gap in a tired KR defence, Pryce unable to add the conversion for a final score of 16-32.
even without Miley Lewis for most of the game, it was a comprehensive win for the league leaders which propels them into
the semi-finals draw alongside the Catalans Dragons, Leigh Leopards and winners
of tomorrow’s encounter between the Warrington Wolves and St Helens. FC had a
bright ten-minute patch, but in a game that lasts or eighty it wasn’t enough
for them to make much of an impression against a hugely impressive Robins side. The Robins now installed as favourites to lift the trophy on the 7th of June, it’s Hull KR’s to lose.
Hull FC: Rapana, Briscoe, Hardaker (T), Litten, Martin (T),
Pryce (G 2/3), Sezer, Ese’ese (T), Bourouh, Knight, Chamberlain, Lane, Asiata.
Subs: Ashworth, Aydin, Eseh, Moy. 18th Man: Salabio.
Hull KR: Broadbent (T), Davies (T), Hiku, Gildart, Burgess (2T),
Lewis, May, Sue, McIlorum, Waerea-Hargreaves, Hadley, Tanginoa, Minchella. Subs: Litten (T, G 6/7), Luckley, Whitbread, Brown.
18th Man: Doro.
Half-Time: 0-18.
Full-Time: 16-32.
Score Progression: 0-4,
0-6, 0-10, 0-12. 0-16, 0-18 : HT: 0-22, 0-24, 0-28, 0-30, 4-30, 6-30, 10-30,
12-30, 12-32, 16-32 :FT.
Lead Exchanges: KR.
Referee: Chris Kendall.
