Hull climbed to third in the table with a hard-fought 26-19 victory over the Loughborough Students at Chants Ave.It was a special afternoon for Liam Regardsoe who made his 100th appearance for the club and he was part of a home pack that dominated their opponents in the scrum.
Hull enjoyed a lot of territorial advantage in the opening quarter and they were 12-0 up after 20 minutes. A penalty try in the 14th minute was followed six minutes later by Duell Trueman’s try on the right hand side six minutes later which was converted by Simon Humberstone.
The visitors were down to 14 men following Hull’s first try and with a man short, the second try was almost inevitable. When restored to 15 men, the Students stung Hull with two tries in six minutes. Will Sanders went over first in the 29th minute and was followed over the whitewash by Jonny Law which was converted by Tom Smith.
Level at 12-12 at the start of the second half, the next score was always going to be crucial. It was Hull who scored next with Cameron Breen touching down from close range after a concerted period of pressure. Humberstone’s conversion gave Hull a 19-12 lead.
Hull gave themselves more breathing space when they scored their fourth try of the game to earn themselves a bonus point. Steve Johnson was on hand to finish an 80-metre score engineered by the lively Mike Adlard. Steve McColl was now on kicking duties and his successful conversion extended the home side’s advantage to 26-12.
As the game neared completion, the Students were determined to return to Loughborough with a losing bonus point at the very least. And they got it in the closing stages when replacement scrum-half Matteo Petrozzi crossed before Smith added the extras.
HULL RUGBY UNION FOOTBALL CLUB 