Sean Baker’s late try helped London Broncos Under 19s defeat the Hull FC Academy 32-26 at the University of Hull this afternoon.
Both sides exchanged periods in the lead in a topsy-turvy game, with Hull surrendering an early 10-0 lead after tries from Nick Staveley and Davy Litten. That was before a London fightback, and Will Wallis’ late first-half try restoring the lead for the Black & Whites.
Another high-scoring 40 minutes followed, with George Dadd, Ramon Silva, Jacob Smith and Baker helping the visitors seal the victory.
The Match
An industrious start yielded the first points of the afternoon for Hull, when Staveley showed some neat footwork near the try line to score under the sticks.
Litten added a second as he sneaked over from dummy half, but London responded quickly through Owen Michael, snaking an arm out to give their comeback the first signs of some momentum.
The Black & Whites looked to have kept London at bay shortly afterwards, with two impressive defensive plays to hold up the opposition in the in-goal area. But moments later Michael fired the perfect pass to Tommy Svanidze, who dived to score in the corner and level the scores.
Having wrestled back control in the match, Hull took a deserved lead into half-time. Jude Ferreira did tremendously well to rescue a grubber kick from going dead in the in-goal area, only for Wallis to pounce on the loose ball.
HALF-TIME: Hull 16-10 Broncos
The hosts were on the prowl for more points at the start of the second half, but in their venture wide, Jacob Hookem’s booming pass was intercepted and Dadd had enough gas in the tank to reach the try line.
The lead was soon back in Hull’s hands though. Callum Rutland fired a beautiful pass into Keiran Masike to force a two-on-one and the centre managed to find winger Manoa Wacokecoke, who barged over his opposite number.
Another try followed in the next five minutes. Powerful prop Ramon Silva proved too hot to handle close to the line and he managed to plant the ball down despite the best efforts of FC’s defenders.
Having fallen behind for the first time in the afternoon following Baker’s conversion, Staveley’s second try of the afternoon put Hull back in front, bulldozing his way through the Broncos defenders.
But the scores were level again after Baker couldn’t convert Jacob Smith’s scamper from dummy-half, although he more than atoned for this missed kick about ten minutes later when his darting run resulted in the match-winning score.
FULL-TIME: Hull 26-32 Broncos
Squads & Scorers
Hull: Litten, Wacokecoke, Masike, Ferreira, Chatham, Rutland, Hookem, Burrell, Morley, Laidlaw, Stewart, Severs, Staveley
Hull Interchanges: Balogun, Jackson, Wallis, Yeaman
Hull Tries: Staveley (2), Litten, Wallis, Wacokecoke
Hull Goals: Hookem (3/5)
Broncos: Michael, Svanidze, Hoyes, Hunter, Dadd, Baker, Derry, Cannon, Leyland, Silva, Howorth, Parke, Gray
Broncos Interchanges: Bejanidze, Hursey-Hord, Rees, Smith
Broncos Tries: Michael, Svanidze, Dadd, Silva, Smith, Baker
Broncos Goals: Baker (4/6)
