Hull FC boss Tony Smith hails best performance of season as Ian Watson admits hosts too good

After seven defeats on the bounce, the Black and Whites were down on confidence but produced a tenacious and committed display to come out worthy winners.

“It was a great result and mostly a great performance,” said Smith. “I’m just really pleased for the players.

“We’re not liking some of our results or how we’ve lost some games this year, but we haven’t been down and out, we’ve kept working hard and keeping positive, so I’m pleased we’ve got some reward for those efforts and our positive attitude.

“I enjoyed some of their attack, but I loved their defence. There was some real attitude in defence, there was desperation and numbers in the picture without the ball.

“The first half was the best half we’ve played all year. I challenged them to match that in the second half and they weren’t far off it.”

Smith heaped praise on his young full-back Davy Litten, who was a shining light in his side’s victory.

“Davy was great today,” he added. “He handled everything against some really experienced kickers, came up with a try assist and just generally backed himself throughout the game.

“I love that about him and it rubs off on some of our older players as well and we’ve got to throw caution to the wind sometimes.

“I thought the crowd were terrific today. There were all sorts of reasons for fans not to turn up today. We haven’t been winning or performing well so for those who turned up, hats off to them. I’m glad we rewarded them today.”

Giants boss Ian Watson made no excuses for his side’s performance.

“I think Hull were the better team today,” he Watson. “They showed up with the right intent and attitude at the start of both halves and they dominated proceedings through a defence first mentality.

“I think it’s fair to say Hull were better than us in those effort areas. They were more physical and they outworked us today.

“We looked really indecisive in what we were doing whereas Hull were very proactive and first to everything, their efforts got them the result.

“The game is really simple. If you turn up with a good attitude defensively and you work really hard for each other, you’ll likely get a result.”