Hull FC 10 Hull KR 24: Flickers of life from hosts but city remains red and white

By contrast, the Black and Whites have nothing to play for but pride in the second half of the season, a far cry from their days as the city's dominant force.

There were at least flickers of life from Hull not seen in the most recent derbies on home soil.

Rovers had won the previous three meetings at the MKM Stadium by an aggregate score of 98-4 but were made to work for their latest victory.

In damp and dreary conditions, Willie Peters' side outmuscled their hosts to race into an 18-0 lead thanks to tries from Jesse Sue, Mikey Lewis and Matty Storton.

Lewis Martin ended Hull's 285-minute wait for a home derby point before fellow academy graduate Logan Moy made it two tries with Joe Burgess in the sin bin.

But the Robins calmed their nerves and completed a fifth win in six derbies when Elliot Minchella went over in front of the away end.

There are 20 points and eight places between the rivals in the table, a gap that needs to close to truly breathe life into the Hull derby.

For all the passion on show, the fixture lacks the quality that Super League powerhouses Wigan Warriors and St Helens produced the previous night.

Until the Black and Whites are back competing at the right end of the table, entertainment is likely to continue to come in the form of flashpoints such as the one that saw opposing captains Elliot Minchella and Brad Fash, who was accused of biting by his counterpart in 2022, sin-binned just before half-time.

Hull hooker Denive Balmforth became the fourth player to see yellow late on but the damage was done in the early stages.

The Airlie Birds appeared to have found a steely edge under Simon Grix but it did not take long for their rivals to expose their soft underbelly.

Derby debutant Moy failed his first test just two minutes in when he dropped Lewis' high kick and the teenage full-back was punished in the next set.

In an alarming play from a home perspective, Sue charged onto Matt Parcell's pass and proved too strong for Hull's hesitant goal-line defenders.

If the home fans weren't fearing the worst already, they could have been forgiven for muttering 'Here we go again' when Liam Sutcliffe kicked the restart out on the full.

That was all the encouragement Rovers needed to pen the accommodating Black and Whites in.

After Lewis forced a drop-out with a pinpoint kick, a Herman Ese'ese error and a penalty for offside allowed the Robins to stay in home territory.

The pressure eventually told when Parcell went on a scheming run and got away an offload to allow Lewis to continue his love affair with the derby.

In the process, the homegrown half-back made it 100 unanswered points for KR at the home of their bitter foes.

The derby form book suggested it would only get worse for Hull and so it proved.

A shift to the right landed in the hands of Storton who swatted off a soft defensive effort from Davy Litten before arcing back inside to dive over under the posts.

Hull belatedly entered KR territory 21 minutes in but could find no way through a determined rearguard despite two probing kicks from Jake Trueman that forced drop-outs.

Moy came closest when he forced Tyrone May into a crucial last-ditch tackle.

The game became increasingly ragged as half-time approached, as these fixtures often do.

When Fash and Minchella became involved in a running battle, there was a sense of inevitability about what happened next.

Minchella showed too much exuberance following an error by his opposite number and the pair were duly ordered to spend 10 minutes in the sin bin, with Fash seemingly keen to continue the feud on the sideline.

Although they were in a strong position on the scoreboard, the loss of Niall Evalds midway through the first half had dampened KR's spark.

His replacement Lewis atoned for an error from a Jack Charles kick by holding up Tiaki Chan over the line before Jai Whitbread spurned a golden opportunity at the other end.

Hull had an extra man after Burgess was sin-binned for delaying a restart and took advantage almost immediately thanks to Martin's sliding finish following a slick shift to the left flank, a welcome try for a team that had been nilled in their previous two home derbies.

When Moy twisted his way over in heavy traffic on the back of a break by Litten, the home fans sensed a famous comeback.

But Rovers steadied themselves following Burgess' return and benefited from some Hull ill-discipline in the closing stages to see out the game.

Tom Opacic had a try ruled out after Balmforth saw yellow for a late hit but Minchella was not to be denied from Ryan Hall's wicked kick as the Robins inflicted more misery on their rivals.

Hull FC: Moy, Briscoe, Tuimavave, Sutcliffe, Martin, Trueman, Charles, Ese'ese, Smith, Aydin, Lane, Sao, Gardiner. Substitutes: Fash, Litten, Balmforth, Chan.

Tries: Martin (56), Moy (58)

Goals: Sutcliffe 1/2

Sin bin: Fash (37), Balmforth (70)

Hull KR: Evalds, Burgess, Hiku, Gildart, Hall, May, Lewis, Sue, Parcell, Hadley, Storton, Tanginoa, Minchella. Substitutes: Opacic, Litten, Whitbread, Brown.

Tries: Sue (3), Lewis (12), Storton (17), Minchella (78)

Goals: Lewis 4/4

Sin bin: Minchella (37), Burgess (54)

Referee: Chris Kendall.