Hull fought to the final whistle to gain a losing bonus point and give Rams something to think about with a 19-point burst late in the second half.
Rams started the better of the two sides and it took just five minutes for them to score their first try through winger Henry Bird as he latched onto a chip ahead. After 18 minutes, Rams scored again when they took a quick tap penalty near the halfway line and their scrum-half Ollie Cole broke away to score a fine solo try near the posts.
Full-back Will Partington converted the first two tries, but failed with his third attempt after winger Jak Rossiter crossed for the visitors to put his side 19-0 in the lead after 26 minutes.
That remained the score until half-time, and when Rams scored an unconverted try through back row man Josh Collis, Hull looked in trouble. But their defence held the Rams at bay, and then they came back strongly in the last 11 minutes with three tries.
The first came from winger Keane Naylor after a thunderous break by Laurence Cowen-Leak in the 69th minute when he crashed over in the right-hand corner after good handling by Hull’s backs.
A quick tap penalty moments later, saw centre Steve Johnson go through under the posts, and then Reece Dean helped put Mike Adlard away, and the winger showed blistering pace and strength to beat four men on his way to a try in the left-hand corner. Full back Reece Dean’s conversion from the touch line ended the scoring to see Hull with a losing bonus point and Rams still at the top end of the league.
Despite the result, there were plenty of positives for new director of rugby Mike Umaga and his assistant Tony Penn. The pair only had two training sessions to prepare for this game against the side second in the table. The squad face another tough challenge next week at Rosslyn Park, who will be looking to bounce back from their 48-12 loss at Chinnor on Friday night.
HULL RUGBY UNION FOOTBALL CLUB 