Hull FC regained the bragging rights in East Yorkshire courtesy of a thrilling derby win over bitter rivals Hull Kingston Rovers at Craven Park.

The Robins held the unofficial title of Hull’s top team after a 14-10 win at the Millennium Stadium in May but Hull stamped their authority on the city once more in comfortably the best of the three games between the two sides this season.

Of greater importance to coach Peter Sharp will be the five-point cushion his side now hold over bottom side Salford City Reds.

In stark contrast, Justin Morgan’s Rovers side will be looking anxiously over their shoulders at the Reds, who trail them by one point and have a game in hand.

Fourteen points from Danny Tickle, who passed the milestone of 1000 career points midway through the opening half, provided a solid base for the visitors’ success, although it was two tries at the start of the second period that paved the way to a hugely important win.

The Black and Whites were tipped as title contenders at the start of the season, but have struggled for consistency ever since. This win allows them to look up at the play-off positions rather than down and the first-half showing of debutant stand-off Mathew Head offered much promise.

Head was withdrawn at the interval though and if he turns out to have suffered an injury then it may well be one step forward, two steps back for Sharp, who has expressed his desire for a quality half-back since Paul Cooke moved to Rovers in April.

In a surprise move, Morgan restricted Cooke to a spot on the bench for this tie.

Regardless, the Robins led 14-12 at the break, thanks in part to a tremendous try from David Tangata-Toa. They trailed 12-4 when Ben Cockayne received the ball on the halfway line and, after chipping the ball over the Hull defence, he saw the prop charge ahead and do the same, before outpacing Motu Tony and collecting to crash over the line.

It was a piece of brilliance from Tangata-Toa and no more than Rovers deserved for their first-half efforts. They had trailed as early as the third minute, when Craig Hall collected Richard Horne’s deft kick to cross, but Rovers were soon back in contention when, after an error from Garreth Carvell straight from the restart, Stanley Gene created an opening for Luke Dyer.

Tickle then posted a fine individual try which culminated in him barging over the top of Cockayne to score, with the simplest of conversions bringing up his points milestone.

With Rovers pressing hard with little reward, Tangata-Toa then produced his piece of magic, which was converted by Cooke.

With the hooter fast approaching, an error from Ewan Dowes allowed Murrell to seize on a loose ball in centre field and, although he was stopped in his 40-metre race to the line, Cooke was on hand to provide O’Neill with the necessary opening to cross and send Rovers in ahead.

With the home side well set, a Jim Gannon knock-on straight from the kick-off at the start of the second half set them up for a spell of conceding 16 unanswered points.

From the subsequent set Scott Wheeldon powered over from close range off Godwin’s ball, before two minutes later Willie Manu showed some good footwork to slip in at the corner and extend the lead.

As Rovers began to freefall, Kirk Yeaman grounded Richard Whiting’s kick for a fifth try on 51 minutes only for debutant Rhys Lovegrove to respond with a score of his own and leave the scores at 20-28.

A Tickle penalty then stretched Hull’s lead further, whilst James Webster had a try ruled out for a forward pass as Rovers pressed but could not fashion an opening despite their lion’s share of the possession.