Richard Horne celebrated his testimonial game in style as Hull finally got one over on city rivals Hull KR.
Rovers crash at KC Stadium in pre-season friendly
Hull FC finally got one over on city rivals Hull KR with a 28-16 victory in Sunday's Richard Horne testimonial at the KC Stadium.
Horne, who has beaten both diabetes and a career-threatening neck injury to make 269 appearances for his home town club, was somewhat upstaged on his big day, though, as Sean Long made his unmistakable mark on the game.
Signed as Hull's new captain and playmaker after 12 trophy-laden years with St Helens, the colourful veteran produced an all-action display.
And the win, although not a competitive one, will be a much-needed shot in the arm for Hull's fans, who had seen Rovers win seven of the 10 meetings between the two over the last three years and become the city's leading side.
Frenzy
Justin Morgan's Rovers twice threatened to spoil the party after taking an early lead through Liam Colbon and then coming back to level at 16-16, but the strength available to Hull on their bench saw them home.
After Horne's pre-match address had whipped the crowd of 16,204 into a frenzy, the majority of them were soon silenced as Rovers took a fourth-minute lead through Colbon, who took advantage of hesitancy from Mark Calderwood and Jordan Tansey who were put in a spin by Paul Cooke's kick.
Hull's new-look attack struggled for cohesion in the early stages, although once they found their rhythm Long nearly drove his way over the line following a delightful offload from fellow newcomer Craig Fitzgibbon.
Hull did soon get on the scoreboard, though, with Calderwood redeeming his earlier error by touching down in the corner after Horne's kick.
Rovers' habit of conceding costly penalties hamstrung their play-off campaign last season and unfortunately for Morgan it showed no signs of having eased here, as they continued to give their opponents easy territory.
Hull were more than happy to utilise that ground too and promptly scored their second try seven minutes before the break when Ewan Dowes bumped his way through a clutch of defenders after taking in Long's terrific bullet pass.
Scuffle
A 20-man scuffle then undermined the friendly status of the clash, but Hull came out of it the more composed and added to their score on the hooter, with Jordan Turner showing nimble footwork to cross in the corner.
Clint Newton got the second half off to a fine start of the visitors as he cantered in under the posts seven minutes after the restart, and Rovers were back on level terms after 50 minutes, with Chaz I'Anson taking in Michael Dobson's clever pass to force his way over.
Hull then regained the lead on the hour mark with Long starting the move that saw England wing Tom Briscoe touch down, before Richard Whiting took advantage of a fine Tansey pass and a lack of numbers to make the game safe with 14 minutes remaining.
