Hull's coaches, John Widdowson and Dan Cook, were delighted that they were able to help the players maintain their drive and continuity of play after they went behind at Luctonians. The whole squad dug deep into their reserves to turn an 18-9 deficit to a 29-18 victory in a final pulsating 20 minutes. It was Hull's ability to maintain the intensity of their play and the use of big impact players from the bench in the final quarter that finally ground Luctonians down.
Hull started the game brightly enough and it took just five minutes before Hull's attack was illegally halted and Cameron struck with his first of three first half penalty kicks. He repeated the exercise seven minutes later but as the home side came more into the game the challenge before Hull was emphasised when a good forward drive saw Holland credited with Luctonians first try. Burton missed the conversion as he had an earlier straight forward penalty. Cameron's third penalty for a high tackle saw Hull ahead 9-5 and Luctonians Smyth yellow carded. The half drew to its close with a fine penalty by Burton for the home side and a yellow card awarded to Hull's Phil Murphy.
The second half saw the home side take full advantage of their numerical superiority and scored two unconverted tries in the space of five minutes. The first was straight from the kick-off and Luctonians Meredith swept over after some slick passing. This was followed by a yellow card for Hull's Matt Rhodes and this, in turn, was the signal for another Luctonians try by Holland. With neither try being converted it still gave the home side what must have seemed, to them, a winning margin of 18-9 with the second half not ten minutes old.
Hull's defence then held the home side at bay and when Hull were restored to their full complement of players the momentum of the game was changed completely. After 64 minutes a catch and drive saw Hull's No. 8 Cook credited with a try and although this was not converted, Cameron put Hull within a point of the home side after 69 minutes with a penalty goal. With Hull now looking in complete control they surged forward and a fine break from Hull's Wigglesworth from full-back saw Dorrington backing up superbly to take the scoring pass and dive over near the corner.
With Hull now ahead 22-18, Luctonians were finding it hard to keep the ball and it came as no surprise when in the last move of the game another catch and drive saw Hull's Cook awarded a try and Cameron's touchline conversion was the last act of a game that saw Hull win 29-18.
Match Report by Richard Gore