A city was on tenterhooks as fifth placed Hull FC made the short journey to Craven Park to face a Hull KR side who are currently in eighth spot but who have secured themselves a Challenge Cup semi-final spot in three weeks’ time.

KR were looking for a fourth consecutive win and with home advantage the bookies had them as narrow favourites to take down the Black & Whites, secure bragging rights and lift themselves level on points with their arch enemy.

On paper it couldn´t have been closer, a Good Friday feast for the Rugby League watching nation.

It was a high octane opening from both sides, but defences held strong. As the half remained scoreless, and both coaches started to interchange their forwards, errors started appearing from both sides but in attack and not defence.

After forcing a goal line drop out on twenty-seven and on the subsequent set of six a cross field grubber kick from Lachlan Coote was collected by Ryan Hall by the left corner flag and grounded a metre in from the touchline, the deadlock finally broken after twenty-eight minutes. Coote pushed his kick across the face of the sticks, but the home crowd were delighted as their side took a 4-0 lead.

Four minutes later FC were back on level terms when Josh Reynolds took an inside pass to go through a gap in the broken Robins defence and run to the line to ground. Luke Gale hit the near upright with his simple-looking conversion attempt to leave the sides all square.

On thirty-six KR went close to a second but Shaun Kenny-Dowall was unable to ground before the dead ball line as he chased a grubber dead in goal. A Jez Litten attempted drop goal on the final hooter went wide of the uprights and the sides went into the sheds all square in what had become a fascinating, but low-scoring, Hull derby.

When Darnell McIntosh knocked on a high kick within his own twenty, he gifted the Robins a gilt edged chance and with forty-eight minutes on the clock Coote took full advantage to hit the line at speed, step off his left foot, and crash over. The KR full back added the conversion from wide for a 10-4 lead.

A breakaway try, a second for Lachlan Coote, further extended the home side´s lead on fifty-four after Ethan Ryan brought the ball from his own twenty and found Coote on the half way line to sprint in under the sticks. Again, he added the conversion for 16-4, the Robins edging towards victory.

An allegation of biting was made by Elliot Minchella, against Brad Fash, on sixty-seven to be investigated by the disciplinary committee, but the game had become scrappy as FC tried to force the play to get back into the game.

The clock ran down to eighty minutes with no further points and Hull KR had a famous 16-4 win.

This was pure energy and enthusiasm from Hull KR, everything that you´d expect in a crucial derby, that took their chances when they arose and were fully deserving of the spoils in this high voltage encounter. Ably refereed, when it could have turned nasty at times, it was the team from east Hull who took the win, and the points and who are now snapping at the heels of their neighbours, trailing only by points difference.

Hull KR:  Coote (2T, 2G), Ryan, Wood, Kenny-Dowall, Hall (T), Milnes, Abdull, Maher, Parcell, King, Halton, Linnett, Minchella. Subs: Storton, Litten, Keinhorst, Richards.

Hull FC:  Connor, Swift, Tuimavave, Griffin, McIntosh, Reynolds (T), Gale, Sao, Houghton, Fash, Savelio, Ma´u, Lovodua. Subs: Satae, Lane, Evans, Brown.

Half-Time: 4-4.

Full-Time: 16-4.

Score Progression: 4-0, 4-4 : HT : 8-4, 10-4, 14-4, 16-4, : FT.

Referee: James Child.