PETER Gentle hailed his "special group of players" as Hull FC marched to fourth in Super League with a convincing 18-6 defeat of reigning champions Leeds Rhinos.
Hull beat the Rhinos at the KC Stadium for the second successive year as Gentle's men made it nine wins from 10 games in all competitions.
Three first-half tries from Joe Westerman, Ben Crooks and Danny Houghton put Hull 18-0 up at half-time as they were in complete control.
The Black and Whites failed to add to their total after the break as Leeds came back through Brett Delaney, but the hosts were never in danger of losing a game they dominated throughout.
The result saw Hull leapfrog the Rhinos to move inside the top four for the first time this season.
Gentle refused to get carried away by his side's season-high position, but did reserve praise for his players.
"I have a special group of players here," said Gentle. "We are making progress and to get a result like that against a quality team shows where we are. It was a real team performance and we are enjoying our footy at the minute. We won't get carried away with it though.
"We were a little guilty in the second half of trying not to lose the game, but Leeds are a quality side and are champions for a reason."
While praising his half-back duo of Daniel Holdsworth and Aaron Heremaia, Gentle also lavished praise on his young three-quarter line of Ben Crooks and Tom Lineham, who outclassed the vastly-experienced Ryan Hall and Joel Moon.
"Ben and Tom are special and are good kids, but we have some senior players here to keep them grounded," added Gentle.
The match did not pass by without incident, with captain Gareth Ellis, injured in the season opener at Leeds, taken off the field during the first half having complained of feeling light-headed.
Ellis returned in the second half, though, to help Hull to a victory which came at some cost, as props Chris Green (torn bicep) and Mark O'Meley (hamstring) both joined the injury list.
The news came as a bitter pill to swallow for Green, who before the game committed his future to the club until the end of the 2016 season after signing a new deal.
The 23-year-old was already under contract until the end of next season, but has been rewarded for his form this year with a long-term deal.
"I'm really pleased to have been offered a new contract and it makes all the hard work worthwhile," said Green.
"I want to play rugby at the best level I can and at this moment I believe this to be with Hull FC."
The news of Green's extended contract comes on the back of Hull confirming young 18-year-old prop Bobby Tyson-Wilson has been offered a first professional contract, agreeing a two-year deal starting next season.
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