Victoria on slide after fifth straight defeat

Birstall have slipped to third-bottom in the table, just a point above Milford Marlins, while five straight wins have propelled Wyke up to third place.

Birstall started well with prop Matthew Ginnelly scoring after only five minutes, but with a heavy penalty count against the home team, the Humbersiders took full advantage and scored converted tries on 15, 20 and 35 minutes, as they led 18-6 at half-time.

Centre Ashley Tomlinson replied with Birstall’s second try 10 minutes into the second half, converted by loose forward Matthew Gowland, to give Victoria hope of producing a fightback.

The next 20 minutes saw a real arm wrestle and tempers flared after 70 minutes resulting in a brawl.

When order was restored, Hull had two players sin-binned, while three Birstall men were also shown yellow cards.

Hull received the penalty and landed the goal, leaving 10-man Birstall needing to score twice.

Birstall worked hard but it was Hull who completed the scoring with a converted try two minutes from full-time.

Joint man-of-the-match awards went to full-back Sam Thornton for his excellent cover tackles, prop Richard Duffy for tireless work driving his team forward and second row Gav Davis for his aggressive defence.

Birstall Victoria travel to local rivals and league leaders Mirfield Stags on Saturday, kick off 3.30pm.