Kirkby Londale 3-28 Hull

Mike Fearon.
Mike Fearon.

Kirkby Lonsdale hosted North Premier leaders Hull on Saturday, and it was the high-flying visitors who came away with the points, winning 28-3.

Hull arrived at Underley Park 14 points clear at the top of the table with 16 wins from their 17 games and were fresh from an 89-0 victory over Kendal last week.

Kirkby refused to let the visitors run riot though and put in a superb team performance of their own.

Hull took the lead after six minutes with a converted try when a backs move that started just inside the Hull half was finished under the posts to make it 7-0.

The visitors had the majority of possession throughout the game and they ran at Kirkby all day but Kirkby closed them down and tackled them to a standstill in one of their grittiest performances of the season.

A Mike Fearon penalty from around 45 metres then put Kirkby on the board at 7-3 with 15 minutes played.

Hull’s second try came from forward pressure on the Kirkby line, the forwards rumbling over near the corner flag and the touchline conversion was slotted to make it 14-3 on the half hour.

Kirkby made a hot start to the second half but typically Hull played their way into the game and extended their lead with another try from their forwards, converted to make it 21-3 with 17 second half minutes on the clock.

The Hull forwards were at it again five minutes later when a penalty gave them a lineout around ten metres from the line.

Kirkby held a number of drives but the pressure eventually told and the visitors secured their bonus point fourth try, the conversion from stand off Simon Humberstone extending their lead to 28-3.

Hull’s Michael Dias was red carded with 20 minutes to go but there were no further scores.