Hull KR made it two wins from two in the derby stakes, but only just, in a thrilling contest were the Robins claimed a 38-24 victory over Hull FC in in front of nearly 40,000 fans at a sun-kissed Etihad Stadium.
After early pressure from the black and whites inside the opening exchanges it Rovers who charged into an 18-point lead.
The red and whites opened the scoring after 10 minutes when they found themselves deep in Hull territory due to a penalty awarded against Fetuli Talanoa for holding down Kris Welham. A sweeping move from left to right saw Neville Costigan, Travis Burns and Ben Cockayne combine to send over Liam Salter in the corner. Burns added the extras a metre in from the sideline to make it 6-0.
With a quarter of the game gone, Josh Hodgson's 40-metre break put the Rovers in the position for Burns to thread a short kick through that saw Jamie Shaul held up over his own line. From the drop-out, Jonny Walker went close before Hodgson's quick pass from acting-half-back was met by Kevin Larroyer.
Minutes later, the Robins were in again. Burns' break on halfway was supported by Kris Keating who the just managed to get the ball away to Salter to dive over for his second. Burns made it three from three when adding both conversions and the Robins boasted an 18-0 lead.
However, Hull got back into the game almost straight away when Dean Hadley was sent through a hole in the Rovers' defence from a well timed short pass from Joe Westerman. Hadley collided with Cockayne whist trying to side-step the full-back and did a forward roll in the process of putting the ball down and was injured and helped form the field. Miller converted to narrow Rovers' winning margin to 12 point once more.
With just a minute remaining in the first-half, Hull struck again when Kirk Yeaman timed a good line to latch onto Miller's pass. The centre sprinted 30 metres before handing onto Shaul on his inside shoulder to finish off. Miller converted to make it a sic point ball game at the break.
A head-high shot from Talanoa on Graeme Horne just after the re-start handed Rovers a penalty 20 metres out and Burns slotted over the two points.
Hull's discipline let them down again when Jason Crookes was shown a straight red card for high shot on Salter. Ade Gardiner went over in the corner off the back of the resulting penalty and Burns made it 26-12 with his kick.
But the score was then back to an eight-point margin when Danny Houghton burrowed over from close range and with Miller's kick it got Hull back to within eight points again.
And, Hull were in again minutes, this time the Rovers' discipline letting them down. Back-to-back penalties from Rovers gave Hull a set inside the Robins' 10-metre zone and Miller's short pass was met by a rampaging Paleaaesina who charged over. Miller's conversion brought Hull to within two points.
Rovers then clinched the win with two tries in the final eight minutes. Ade Gardiner got his second after Rovers spread the ball wide taking advantage of the extra man for the winger to go over in the corner. Burns again converting from the touchline. Josh Hodgson then put the icing on the cake with his effort from 10-metres out in the dying embers.
