Hull FC produced a remarkable comeback in the 227th Hull derby, as Steve Michaels’ late try earned a dramatic 22-20 win against Hull Kingston Rovers.
Trailing 20-0 as the game entered the final quarter, Hull scored 22 unanswered points to secure bragging rights until their next meeting during Magic Weekend in May, as well as consigning their rivals to a sixth defeat in eight games. The Robins looked on course to pick up a second straight win under their new coach, James Webster, when tries from Ryan Shaw, Ken Sio and Iain Thornley, coupled with four goals from Josh Mantellato, put them 20-0 up after the opening hour.
FC’s fightback began when Kirk Yeaman sent Jamie Shaul away for their first points of the match, before a remarkable passage of offload-oriented rugby ended with Danny Houghton diving over. Marc Sneyd’s conversion reduced the gap to eight points and, although he was off target when Mahe Fonua’s try closed the deficit further, he struck the decisive blow three minutes from time when converting Michaels’s try.
The other big game was the meeting of Super League’s top two at the Halliwell Jones Stadium where Warrington extended their unbeaten start and moved to the top of the table at the expense of Widnes. Early tries from Tom Gilmore, in at half-back instead of the injured captain, Kevin Brown, and Rhys Hanbury put Widnes 10-0 up but Warrington responded with 28 unanswered points to make it seven wins from seven in front of 15,008, a Super League record for the club.
Huddersfield replaced Wakefield at the foot of the table as the bottom two sides played out a thrilling West Yorkshire derby at Belle Vue. Late tries for Tom Johnstone and Nick Scruton secured a first win for the new coach, Chris Chester. Despite a debut for their new signing Ryan Brierley, the Giants slipped to a 36-22 defeat and face another derby on Easter Monday against Castleford.
Catalans made it three away wins in a row with a 26-12 defeat of Salford. The Dragons won twice on their travels in 16 games last season but two tries from Dave Taylor laid the platform for their fourth win in seven games.
