Classy Quins hammer Hull

Harlequins heaped more misery on injury-hit Hull with an impressive 24-6 victory at the KC Stadium, their first in Super League XIII.

Matt Gafa scored two tries as Brian McDermott's side bounced back in emphatic fashion following a 47-28 drubbing by Wigan in round one.

The hosts, who were booed off at the end of both halves, were on the verge of being shut out until Shaun Berrigan finally got them on the scoreboard in the closing minutes.

Peter Sharp has now seen his team lose twice at the start of the new campaign, a disappointing beginning even if they are missing seven first-team regulars.

Injury

The only disappointment for Quins was the loss of Scott Hill to a neck injury. The Australian was stretchered off in a neck brace after a five-minute stoppage in play in the second half, though by then his side were 14-0 up.

After Rob Purdham had spun his way over to open the scoring, full-back Motu Tony allowed a high kick from Danny Orr to bounce on his own 30 metre line and roll back into the in-goal area, when he then had to concede a drop-out.

From the resulting scrum Quins cleverly worked the ball across the field to get David Howell in for their second, though the worst was still to come from the Airlie Birds.

Tony and fit-again winger Gareth Raynor stood and watched an Orr bomb thinking the other would deal with it, allowing Gafa to nip in and plant the ball down just before it ran dead.

Purdham, who took over the kicking duties from Henry Paul, landed the conversion and Quins believed they had gone further clear until a second Howell effort was ruled out for offside.

Hull too had a try disallowed, Raynor's score being chalked off following a forward pass from Craig Hall.

Solid defence

The chorus of boos from the home crowd at the hooter showed their displeasure with the performance and, although there was an improvement in the second half, they struggled to break through a rock-solid Quins defence.

Danny Tickle opted to ignore a two-man overlap and attempted to power over the line himself only for the excellent Mark McLinden to thwart his ambitions.

Any momentum the Black and Whites appeared to be gaining was then lost due to the lengthy stoppage for Hill to receive treatment on the field.

Chad Randall's close-range try on the hour mark ended any hopes of a Hull comeback, with Purdham's goal making it a 20-point lead.

Gafa rubbed more salt into the wounds with his second with five minutes to go before Berrigan rounded out the scoring, the hooker's first try for his new club being no more than a late consolation.