Hull's narrow defeat to Sheffield Tigers was primarily a product of the home side's errors. It was Hull's third defeat in a row by less than a score.
Sheffield were a capable and committed side but the loss of the home side's own lineout ball, put a huge pressure on their defence in the first half.
Hull started brightly and had a chance to score in the first minute when James Cameron's penalty drifted wide.
After Sheffield's West missed with a similar chance, Hull's loss at their own lineout gifted possession to Sheffield and they were able to mount a series of punishing attacks. The home defence held well but eventually Sheffield's McKenzie was driven over from short range by his fellow pack members and West's conversion saw the visitors leading 7-0. A few moments later another home side error saw Sheffield again make great use of the ball and their centre Outram finished off the move with a try that West failed to convert.
Hull's response was immediate as Ollie Cook, Hull's No. 8, drove 30 yards from a scrum and the ball was moved to centre Kirk who sped in from 20 yards out and Cameron's magnificent touchline conversion adding the 2 points.
Sheffield were yet again handed the ball when Hull infringed and from the resulting penalty Sheffield secured a field position and worked the ball to full back Feely who dived over half way out giving West an easy conversion.
As Hull had also missed two penalty attempts, Sheffield went in at half time with a comfortable 19-7 lead.
The second half started badly for Hull when, despite missing an easy penalty through West, Sheffield maintained pressure on the Hull line and scored through Feely with West adding a simple kick to give Sheffield what seemed an unassailable 26-7 advantage.
After about 10 minutes of the second half, Hull began to utilise their subs with Doughty coming on for Lamping, then Moody for Lewis, Dutton for Dorrington, and Robinson for Wigglesworth, and the response was immediate, as Cameron kicked a penalty for Hull. The Hull forwards started to win more ball and on 55 minutes a series of controlled drives near the Sheffield line saw back row Moody over and Cameron was unlucky to see his sweetly hit conversion attempt hit the post and bounce out but Hull had brought the score back to 15-26.
The Hull recovery continued when a few minutes later a wonderful break, kick ahead, collect and sprint for the line, saw Kirk cover 75 yards and score the try of the game. Cameron's conversion saw Hull within a score of their opponents at 22-26.
As the game entered the last few minutes, Cameron was replaced by Lound but another penalty against Hull, and the yellow card awarded to Ollie Cook, gave Sheffield the impetus to mount another forward driving attack resulting in a try for second row forward Hayter which West converted and a scoreline of 22-33 in Sheffield's favour put the match beyond Hull.
Hull's spirit remained in tact and as the final whistle approached they swept upfield and Phil Murphy barged over for Lound to convert, leaving Hull once again tantalisingly short of their first victory.
After the match a clearly disappointed Head Coach, John Widdowson, said that the players know they must keep their concentration and eliminate errors because of their ability to score tries from all parts of the pitch is plain to see but giving possession away at National league level will be punished every week.
Richard Gore