Hull had something of a new line up for this top of the table clash as their formerly ever present centre and captain Ali Heard was absent through injury and scrum-half Harvey Harding started in the back-row as an injury to the outstanding Will Hall and a suspension to Latu Makaafi had left coach Gary Pearce with limited options in the back row.
Fylde kicked off with a breeze behind them, but Hull were soon on the attack and only desperate defending kept winger Keane Naylor out after three minutes.
Hull were already dominating the scrums and after nine minutes, Hull’s scrum-half Sam Crane broke from a set piece and put winger Mike Adlard in at the left-hand corner for an unconverted try.
Hull were winning most of the scrums, but were having some lineout problems which disrupted their rhythm, but it was Hull who nearly scored again when prop Loma Kivalu broke into Fylde’s ’22’ but the final pass did not go to hand.
Fylde were starting to look dangerous and after a couple of good offloads, their back-row forward Marcus Blake romped over for a try converted by off half Greg Smith.
Hull were getting their fair share of penalties from their forward domination and after 31 minutes, another lineout from a penalty saw the Hull pack drive to the line and prop Ben Bootham was on hand to get the touchdown for another unconverted try which was the last score in the first half to see Hull go into the break just 10-7 ahead.
The second half saw Hull take an early initiative, but when the ball went lose, Fylde seized on the opportunity and the ball was moved left for their winger Tom Grimes to score a try with the conversion by off-half Greg Smith seeing his side lead by 14-10 after 47 minutes.
Hull then began to reassert themselves and after another dominant scrum Fylde had a front row forward yellow carded and then when they had a drop out well fielded by Hull, Adlard surged forward and centre Steve Johnson was on hand to crash his way through two tackles to touch down in the left hand corner for an unconverted try to take the lead just 15-14 after 57 minutes.
Hull’s powerful pack with their props being instrumental in a stream of penalties going the home side’s way were looking capable of getting more points, but it was Fylde who had the next scoring chance however, their penalty attempt was missed by Smith after 64minutes.
Both sides were going for broke and the last 15 minutes was end to end stuff, but when Fylde suffered a second yellow card and Hull mounted another attack as their pack moved forward and when the drive was halted a few yards out, prop Loma Kivalu stormed over from the breakdown and Simon Humberstone’s conversion gave Hull a 22-14 lead after 73 minutes.
Fylde still kept the ball moving and had a couple of tremendous breaks into the Hull half but it was Hull who were camped on the Fylde line as the final whistle blew to record another home victory.
Richard Gore
HULL RUGBY UNION FOOTBALL CLUB 