Last-minute let-off for Hull in Lions’ den

Hull’s early forward pressure almost saw them take the lead but a catch and drive was illegally brought to ground and Leicester second-row Thomas was yellow carded.

It was only a matter of time before Hull struck and Ollie Cook was credited with the try following a catch and drive straight from the coaching manual. James Cameron’s fine conversion gave Hull a seven-point lead.

Leicester were always trying to move the ball but there seemed little to concern Hull when they camped on the Leicester line and another catch and drive saw Chris Murphy credited with the try and Cameron converted.

With the first half drawing to a close, one of Leicester’s sweeping attacks was illegally halted and a quick tap penalty saw full-back Gareth Collins stroll in unopposed and Boden added the conversion to make it 14-7 at the break.

Early in the send half, Leicester’s adventurous back play came unstuck when a loose pass was snapped up by Hull full-back Kirk, who raced over from 50 yards out and with Cameron adding the conversion, Hull seemed to have reclaimed the initiative at 19-7.

Leicester had other ideas and mounted a series of attacks resulting in winger Marston forcing his way over after just eight minutes of the second half.

Boden missed the conversion and Hull were still able to look at a lead that would take two scores to overhaul.

Leicester kept on probing Hull’s defence and despite a great tacking stint by the whole side the pressure told in the end when Leicester’s No 8 sliced through to score near the posts, giving Boden the easiest of tasks to tie the scores.

Boden’s long-range penalty miss in the last minute left the scores tied at 19 all which most agreed was a fair reflection of a keenly contested match where two yellow cards for either side were more a reflection of the referee’s vigilance than any malice.

The result left Hull in eighth place with 31 points from 12 games – five points clear of Saturday’s hosts.