Vaikona steams in for bonus as Hull heed their wake-up call

Hull hung on to get back to winning ways.

Grasshoppers drew first blood with a clever lineout that was passed short to Wayne Steel who shrugged off the last man to touch down.

Hull responded with a powerful catch and drive which Neil Spence finished before Guy Martinson converted. Hull's wake-up call energised them up to the interval but they wasted two gilt-edged chances.

Ten minutes into the second half, Hull's momentum finally counted with some beautiful short passing up the right wing giving Alex Campbell a sight of the line. After being stopped at the 10-metre line, the ball was switched left and Danny Smith ran in for Martinson to convert.

Hull extended their lead after being awarded a close-range scrum following more pressure on Preston's line. Spence finished off but Martinson's conversion was missed.

Preston scored from a close-range scrum, Nick Smith crossing.

Tevita Vaikona brought an instant response from Hull and their bonus point following yet another scrum. As the ball came free on the right, a quick pass inside found Vaikona, who steamed over.

Deep in stoppage time, Preston's Ben Davey gave the visitors a bonus point following a scrum but Hull survived.

Bradford & Bingley 7

Macclesfield 36

THE only consolation for the Bees was that they won the second half 7-5.

By then the damage had been done by Geoff Wappett's Macclesfield.

The home side came off second best in every aspect of the game in that first 40 and the 31-point lead that Wappett's men built was a fair measure of their dominance.

There was a master-class in half-back play from Tom Eaton and Ross Winney, who slotted three early penalties to establish the momentum.

By the 20th minute, scores from centre Richard Hughes and wingman Matthew O'Regan had the visitors 21-0 ahead.

Scores from Eaton and Evan Stewart came before the break.

Macclesfield made a number of substititions early in the second half and the Bees also shuffled their side, the introduction of James McBirnie seeming to galvanise the midfield.

The Bees' greater endeavour was rewarded on 53 minutes as Tom Davidson bounced off a tackle and spun into open field with a short gallop to the line for a converted try.

With Winney off, Tane Jericevich dictated for the Bees but they could not score and substitute William Robinson galloped in for the final score.