HULL FC ran in five second-half tries to ease to a 38-20 victory over city rivals Hull KR in the 220th derby game.
Hull took the derby honours and more importantly moved above Rovers in the Super League table by claiming a win in the third and final meeting of the regular season.
The result leaves KR still firmly in the play-off hunt, but now looking nervously over their shoulders ahead of a trip to Leeds Rhinos next week.
Hull meanwhile were left celebrating a third successive victory as they continued their good run of results with the Challenge Cup final edging ever closer.
Going into the match Rovers made three changes to the side beaten last week by Wigan with Keal Carlile replacing the suspended Lincoln Withers, while Jason Netherton came in for Mickey Paea. Rhys Lovegrove was named to start but pulled out in the warm-up, replaced by George Griffin.
FC had just the one change on the bench with Chris Green, scorer of a controversial winner in the last derby, replacing Andy Lynch who missed out with a leg injury.
The opening 10 minutes of the game meandered along with neither side creating any real opportunities, then on 10 minutes the match sparked into life when a brawl saw both sides reduced to 12-men.
Josh Hodgson and Kirk Yeaman were shown yellow cards for their part in the altercation between the sides as the intensity on and off the field was raised.
With a little more space to run into, Hull took advantage, forcing three successive sets deep inside Rovers' territory, but a combination of fierce KR tackling and Hull's handling errors saw the game remain scoreless.
Showing their neighbours the way, Rovers capitalised on a first real foray toward the Hull line as Liam Salter took Greg Eden's pass at the second attempt to run through a huge hole in the Hull line. On his 150th game for KR, Michael Dobson kicked the conversion and Rovers had a six-point lead and the wind in their sails.
A break soon after by Travis Burns almost brought more reward, but while they returned down field empty handed, the hosts were beginning to look the more threatening.
Hull needed a spark, what they got was a helping hand from their hosts when Dave Hodgson was show a yellow card with 10 minutes of the half remaining. Having prevented Tom Lineham from chasing down a kick to score in the corner, Hodgson held on to his opposite number as he tried to get a quick play the ball.
Hodgson's decision proved costly when minutes later Hull were able to level the scores. Joe Arundel's weaving run across the full width of the Rovers defensive line was taking Hull nowhere until a pass to Briscoe finally drove the Black and Whites forward. The winger's off-load to Yeaman kept the ball alive and when Yeaman followed suit with a pass to Jacob Miller, the scrum-half was able to reach over the try line and score.
The teams seemed set to go in at the break with the scores level, then on the stroke of half-time Dobson slotted over a penalty.
Hull's start to the second half saw a blow to their chances and a worry for the Challenge Cup final when Tom Lineham hobbled off the field. The smile was soon back on the faces of the Hull fans, however, when the visitors took the lead for the first time through a penalty try.
When Briscoe slapped a high kick backwards into Yeaman's path, the centre kicked the ball to the try line but was held up in his pursuit by Travis Burns.
A four-point advantage soon became 12 thanks to Richard Whiting intercepting Craig Hall's pass inside his own 20 metres and his off-load to Jamie Shaul setting the full-back free to comfortably win a footrace with Burns.
If Rovers were stunned, they would soon be shell shocked when straight from the re-start Hull added another six points to their total thanks to Joe Arundel running 90 metres to touchdown under the posts. As has so often been the case with derby games in recent memory, the trailing side didn't know they were beaten and in the face of adversity, Rovers lifted their game.
A flat pass to Adam Walker, the ability to spin in the tackle and reach out for the try line saw the prop crash over the try line and with 15 minutes remaining the hosts were back in the match. Unfortunately for the Robins, that hope lasted a matter of minutes until Richard Whiting went from provider to try scorer, touching down in the corner as a replacement winger for the injured Lineham.
The game drifted along as the intensity that had greeted the majority of the second-half fizzled out, but there was still time for both sides to add further points.
Evarn Tuimavave's run on the edge of the ruck from 10 metres out brought up Rovers' third try of the game and not to be outdone, Briscoe then hit back for the visitors as he chased onto Danny Houghton's kick to the corner.
There was still time for one last bit of drama and with the clock about to run out Burns was shown the fourth yellow card of the game for an altercation with Briscoe. Tickle stepped up to take a penalty from the half-way line and slotted it over for his seventh of the game.
