We end the year with a win at Wirral

Hull entered the Christmas break with a convincing win against a hard working Wirral side as their pack dominated their opposing eight.

Both sides were willing to move the ball, but the conditions meant that handling errors ensured a good number of scrums were needed and it was in that phase of the game Hull held all the aces.

The game was just five minutes old when Wirral’s off-half Danny Harvey kicked a penalty goal to give his side an early lead but this was to be their only score.

Hull settled down and steadily built up the pressure on the home side despite playing into the strong wind and after 20 minutes scrum-half Rob Watts broke right from a scrum near the Wirral line drawing the cover and putting winger Stephen Hihetah in for Hull’s first try .

Four minutes later Hull’s second row man Paul Hamber took the ball straight from a  lineout 22 yards out and when held a yard short of the line his number eight Joe Stafford was on hand to drive over for Hull’s second try which Simon Humberstone converted.

Hull were then contained for the last 15 minutes of the half by the home side and went in at halftime leading 12-3.

The second  half was just five minutes old when Hull’s dominance in the scrummage reaped its reward with the first of two penalty tries as Wirral illegally disrupted a scrum on their own line giving Hull a 19-3 advantage.

As Hull’s control of the game increased Wirral fought to contain their visitors but after 65 minutes another penalty try in exactly the same circumstances as the first saw Hull secure their try bonus point and take an unassailable lead.

An afternoon of tackling began to take it’s toll on Wirral and Hull scored another try after 75 minutes as an overstretched defence could not hold Hull substitute centre Steven Johnson from crashing over for Hull’s fifth try converted by Simon Humberstone.

Three minutes later Hull’s final try came from scrum-half Watts who evaded a tackle inside his own half before handing off and wrong footing several would be tacklers on his way to a spectacular touch down. Simon Humberstone’s conversion made it a 40-3 Hull victory that consolidates Hull’s position with a nine-point margin at the top of the league going into the Christmas holiday.