If Hull RUFC are to go on and complete their push for promotion, then one moment will stand out as perhaps ‘the’ moment that defines the season. Trailing 17-15 to second-placed Rotherham on Saturday, Reece Dean moment of brilliance and Mike Adlard’s awareness, produced the season’s most dramatic moment, so far. Dean’s excellent vision spotted a gap that he knew Adlard could exploit, but only if his crossfield kick was executed perfectly. It was. And the rest is history as Adlard scooped the ball up to score the decisive try with less than 90 second remaining. Dean is keen to play down his part in the try, but he admits it was a risky play to try with time running out in the club’s biggest game in recent memory.
“It was a risky chip, however you don’t get rewards without risks in these big games,” Dean said.
“The 50/22 before that was nice, however that didn’t win us the game but it put us in a great position to win the game which is what my job is to do!
“We won the line out in windy conditions and Simon put me on a 2-on-2 and I knew how fast Mike is so I chipped it over and Mike scored to win the game!
“I thought it was a good, hard team effort across the board!”
Hull were in the position to win the game thanks to Dean’s opportunism midway through the first half when he scored the game’s first try that helped Hull lead 12-0 at half-time. Full-back Dean, and centre Steve Johnson, were on the same wavelength to carve Rotherham open. But while he received the plaudits for his try and glorious assist, Dean admits Saturday’s victory and every victory achieved this season, has been down to the squad doing their jobs week after week.
“For my try Johno kicked the ball through and you always chase the bouncing ball as it can go anywhere,” Dean said.
“And lucky for me the ball did and I had to hack it forward and I had the pace to get on the end of it.
“At the end of the day, it’s my job to put in good performances week in week out for the team.
“It’s not just me, over the past few months the full squad’s been right on point and hopefully that continues.”
HULL RUGBY UNION FOOTBALL CLUB 