Records tumble as Hull cruise past a century for the first time

Hull responded to their defeat at Loughborough with a pacey display that compounded Manchester's misery at the Ferens Ground on Saturday.

With Adi Longbone opening the scoring after three minutes with a catch and drive, it always looked like a long day for the visitors.

And so it proved after 20 minutes as Tevita Vaikona's 20m run to the right corner brought about Hull's bonus point following solo efforts from Will Robinson and Max Lewis.

Scott Redfern managed to land a good penalty from the half way line but it did little to stem the flow.

Leading up to the break James Greene added to the score with Vaikona, Lewis and Robinson all getting their second tries before the interval.

There was no let up in the second half with three more tries in the opening ten minutes including hat-tricks for Will Robinson and James Greene who really came alive in the second half and went on to score a fourth with 15 minutes remaining but only after Max Lewis picked up his own hat-trick from a catch and drive.

After Greene's fourth score Maea David came off the bench to break Hull's best-ever haul of 85 points before tries from Rob Devonshire and captain James Cameron took the new record to triple figures.

Cameron also broke the record for the number of successful goal kicks and the 16 tries scored by Hull was a first for the home side in a match that was shorn of competition once Manchester went down to 14 in the first half.

It was a shame and their battling qualities brought nothing but respect from all fans.

Leicester Lions 62

Hull Ionians 17

The Lions gave Hull Ionians a harsh lesson in good ball retention, fast delivery in the tackle and superb running skills from fullback Gareth Collins who scored a hat-trick in each half.

The first half saw Hull Ionians reduced to tackling practise as they rarely got their hands on the ball and with too many first-up tackles slipping off, the Lions were rampant and led 36-0 at the break.

Their other two first-half tries coming from a kick ahead and bounce into space that saw right wing Joe Hill race in and good, fast close support play saw scrum half Ben Walker cross. James Ferguson kicked well out of defence off crumbs of possession and orchestrated an excellent try for himself which was disallowed for obstruction.

After the break Hull Ionians learned the lessons shown and kept the ball alive themselves.

An attacking line-out taken by Joe Sanders was driven on for Dave Birch to dive in low to score. Lions counter attacks saw Collins cross twice then an interception by James Ferguson took Hull Ionians forwards and Tom Rice supported inside to score then two strong runs and good ball recycling by Mark Duxbury saw Adam Thomas dart into the corner, Dan Porter adding the touchline conversion.

Lions struck again with a back row Liam Hucknall crashing through then the final run in by Collins, Jon Boden adding 8 conversions and a penalty before Hull Ionians camped on the Lions line for the final 10 minutes looking for the bonus-point try but just denied, Lions collecting a yellow card for their desperate methods.

Harrogate 25

Preston Grasshoppers 8

The Harrogate attacking brand of rugby made them extremely good value for their 17-3 half time lead.

Preston came back strongly in the later stages of the match but Harrogate had enough in the bank to win comfortably.

Harrogate opened the scoring with clinical efficiency and James Rothwell's conversion put the home side 7-0 ahead.

The next score came from another powerful driving maul and flanker, Kerry Wood, broke clear to break through the defence and touch down in the corner. Mike Aspinall continued to orchestrate back attacks and then made a scintillating individual break. The powerful Kyle Dench supported well to score Harrogate's next try.

Preston got their first score from a Mark Edwards penalty after a Harrogate offside offence.

Harrrogate's bonus-point try came shortly after the interval and it was that man Wood again who tucked in at the end of yet another driving maul.

The home pressure continued with a further three penalty points and the floodgates seemed to be about to open. However, Preston pressure earned them a succession of attacking drives from which hooker Richie Sands scored a well deserved try.

The final 20 minutes were evenly contested but Harrogate always looked to be the more potent attackers.

Huddersfield 16

Westoe 17

Having scored all his team's points, Chris Johnson suffered the agony of seeing a late penalty slip just wide and Huddersfield had to settle for a bonus point after matching third in the table Westoe for most of the game.

Johnson put his side in front with an early penalty and then added a try when he seized on a Westoe knock on, hacked through and took a kindly bounce before diving over.

He added the conversion and then kicked another penalty after Westoe had put themselves on the board with a try, and Johnson was again on the mark following the visitors' second try to see Huddersfield turn round 16-14 in front.

With both sides picking up yellow cards towards the end of the first half, the second period started cagily but gradually the visitors started to get a grip on the game. They pinned Huddersfield back and set up the position for what would be the winning drop goal.

Kendal 28

Morley 20

Morley suffered a disappointing defeat that saw their opponents open up a six point gap in the table.

It had looked as though Morley would take the game by the scruff of the neck as they piled on early pressure but they twice dropped the ball when over the line and only had a Simon Bradshaw penalty to show for all their early domination. Having weathered the storm, Kendal hit back and by half-time had taken an 18-3 lead with two tries and two penalties.

Morley were again the brighter side early in the second half and left winger Bradshaw brought them within five points, following up a second penalty with a well-taken try, which he converted himself.

But once again they couldn't maintain the momentum and the home side eased into a 28-13 lead before substitute winger Bradley Marshall dived over for Morley's second try.