Hull 37, Bromsgrove 13

BROMSGROVE’S fears of being embroiled in a relegation battle came true after losing to Hull.

The Boars paid the price for not taking their chances during a closely fought clash.

But now the side are four points away from safety.

Despite all the team’s good play, they suffered their seventh straight league defeat.

The first half at Hull was an even affair with the difference in the 20-10 scoreline being four successful goalkicks both sides having scored two tries.

A catch and drive on five minutes by Hull resulted in Ben Sullivan being driven over with James Cameron converting.

Town responded in a similar style with Kevin Salisbury touching down.

Bromsgrove then enjoyed their best phase of the game, culminating in Tak Osaki darting over in the corner on 20 minutes to score.

The home side responded well with Cameron kicking two penalties and converting their second try, a simple score by Ben Thoy to leave the away side trailing 20-10.

That didn’t seem a bad scoreline for Town as it was hoped that the bigger, older home pack would tire – no such luck for Bromsgrove.

Hull extended their lead with a soft try by Jamie Barnard, aided by weak tackling from Bromsgrove. Town reduced the arrears with an Aaron Higgins penalty and there was only two scores in it.

This signalled a big effort from Bromsgrove who applied a lot of pressure but poor decision making and error strewn attacks meant they had nothing to show.

This failure encouraged the home side who came back strongly in the last ten minutes with another pair of catch and drive tries for Ben Sullivan.

Head coach Ross Baxter said: “It was a frustrating performance because I thought we played well up until the final third.

“The score line suggested the game was more one-sided than it actually was.

“We were competing right up to the final ten minutes.

“All we can do is work hard and it’s up to the players to start winning.”

Bromsgrove will be hoping to bounce back at home to highflying Macclesfield on Saturday (3pm ko).

Macclesfield are second in the table and pushing leaders Darlington.