A real game of two halves saw a share of the spoils and will leave both sides frustrated that they could not come away with a win. Hull dominated the first half and could have made more of their possession and territory but Hoppers dug deep and came out with intensity in the second half that had been severely lacking from the start and could have snatched the game at the end.
Hoppers head coach Dave Baldwin said: “it’s a mixture of relief and disappointment, I would have been happy to take the draw at half time but we came out and played well in the second half and could have won the game.”
He went on to add: “we started badly and got worse, they put us under pressure with good simple rugby and we made too many mistakes. We should have held on but for a sloppy penalty and it was disappointing to miss the drop goal at the end.”
Baldwin was however happy to walk away with some points after a poor run of form after feeling that the side ‘lacked consistency’ but was happy that the team came out strong in the second half and had not capitulated.
It was a first half that Hull dominated right from the kick-off and they took the lead after just three minutes. They were camped in the Hoppers half and after sucking in the defence and recycling well the ball was spread wide and James Greene showed good power and pace to break the line and score, James Cameron added the extras.
Hoppers kicking and decision making did not help them to get any consistent ball and Hull stretched their lead with a Cameron penalty and scored their second try midway through the half.
After driving to the line second row Max Lewis somehow found some space to touch the ball down after it looked like the move had broken down, the conversion was missed but Hull had a 15-0 lead. Hoppers did finally put some points on the board just before half time with a Mark Edwards penalty but the momentum was with the visitors
Hoppers came out in the second half looking like a different team, finally the running rugby which had served them well before the enforced winter break came into effect. They narrowed the gap ten minutes into the half with a penalty try after several scrum infringements, which also saw Hull reduced to 14 men when prop Kristyan Fullman was shown a yellow card.
Hoppers drew level with a great team try as Tom Hughes’ great miss pass put Sean Taylor into space and he scored in the corner and took the lead with minutes to go after Taylor had ripped through the Hull defence but was stopped inches short, only for the visitors to be penalized for hands in the ruck, Edwards kicked Hoppers ahead but Hull drew level minutes later for a similar infringement and Edwards couldn’t snatch victory for Hoppers with a drop goal at the death.
Hoppers kicking and decision making did not help them to get any consistent ball and Hull stretched their lead with a Cameron penalty and scored their second try midway through the half.
After driving to the line second row Max Lewis somehow found some space to touch the ball down after it looked like the move had broken down, the conversion was missed but Hull had a 15-0 lead. Hoppers did finally put some points on the board just before half time with a Mark Edwards penalty but the momentum was with the visitors
Hoppers came out in the second half looking like a different team, finally the running rugby which had served them well before the enforced winter break came into effect. They narrowed the gap ten minutes into the half with a penalty try after several scrum infringements, which also saw Hull reduced to 14 men when prop Kristyan Fullman was shown a yellow card.
Hoppers drew level with a great team try as Tom Hughes’ great miss pass put Sean Taylor into space and he scored in the corner and took the lead with minutes to go after Taylor had ripped through the Hull defence but was stopped inches short, only for the visitors to be penalized for hands in the ruck, Edwards kicked Hoppers ahead but Hull drew level minutes later for a similar infringement and Edwards couldn’t snatch victory for Hoppers with a drop goal at the death.
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