Hull close gap on leaders after beating Morley

Hull were relieved to end up beating a resurgent Morley side 15-5 but had they taken two of three other guilt edged try-scoring opportunities they would have gained a further bonus point.
Morley had much the better of the scummage but Hull worked well at the lineout and with the back row combining well in attack and defence  hard in attack and defence Hull were able to come out on top of a tough encounter.
The first half saw Hull playing into the breeze and after 10 minutes it seemed Hull must score but second row man Paul Hamber was unable to hold on to a pass when clear five yards from the line.
Five minutes later Hull were 10 yards out with an overlap but the ball went to ground and Morley survived once more.
The visitors started to come more into the game and they were gaining plenty of ball at the scrum as they stated to dominate in the tight but Hull’s defence was organised and it was Hull who broke tbe deadlock after 34 minutes.
A period of pressure and good ball retention ended with Zak Poole off loading to centre Joey Martin who ran in from 15 yards out to score the opening unconverted try converted.
Hull were unable to increase their lead before half-time but just after the break, a seering break by full back Lee Birch saw him sidestep his way past a clutch of would be tacklers on his way to a fine try well converted by Hull’s off half Stephen Jonhson.
Shortly afterwards Hull had a penalty awarded under the posts but a tap-and-go ploy saw three points go begging.
Morley stepped up their efforts and after being held at bay from a couple of catch-and-drives they finally got a try through second row man Ollie Flegg from a rolling maul after 78 minutes.
With the clock ticking Johnson kicked a 38-yard penalty deep in injury time to seal a hard earned win for Hull who closed the gap on leaders Preston, who lost at Kirkby Lonsdale, to 20 points with two games in hand.