Johnson try helps seals come-from-behind win at Preston Grasshoppers

Hull won this game with a trademark second half display of determination and good ball retention.

Hull were engaged in a bout of early tactical kicking as both sides were taking time to find some rhythm.

Preston had the better of the first few minutes in terms of territory but Hull looked dangerous when they did get possession. In the 12th minute, the ball was moved right around the halfway line, Hull winger Lee Birch scythed through the home defence only to be held up on the line. Hull centre Steve Johnson immediately took a short ball from the ensuing scrum only to lose the ball as he was going over the line.

Hull opened the scoring with penalty from off-half Simon Humberstone after 17 minutes but the visitors were lucky when a kick out of defence after the restart saw Preston open up the Hull defence only for Hull full back Reece Dean to pull off a try-saving tackle.

Preston then had a penalty award after 23 minutes but missed an easy chance to score.

They made best use of a penalty in the 30 minute when they kicked for touch, won the lineout and moved the ball left for off-half Nick Gregson to score a converted try.

Hull had Cameron Curry yellow carded and Gregson then kicked a penalty after 37 minutes to see Preston worth their 10-3 half-time lead.

The second half was a minute old when Hull were caught out as Preston kicked ahead and after holding on, Gregson kicked a penalty to see his side 13-3 ahead.

Hull then went up a gear as their half-time substitutions of Tommy Lee in the centre, Rob Watts at scrum-half as well as Tip Kivalu and Paul Hamber in the pack freshened up the team.

Hull then leveled the scores when firstly Johnson took a superb pass from his off-half Humberstone to touch down under the posts after 45 minutes. Humberstone converted the try and three minutes later kicked a simple penalty goal to see Hull right back in it.

After 69 minutes, Hull won a lineout and started to punch holes in the home side’s defence. When the ball was moved left, Dean gave Tom O’Donnell a great pass for the back row man to power into the corner for an unconverted try to see Hull lead 18-13 with 10 minutes remaining.

Hull had some nervous moments in the remaining minutes, but their solid tackling and a couple of good relieving kicks from Dean saw them win their third consecutive game.