[visiongallery set=72157629094048706]
Photos: Dave Hughes
In a game marred by injuries to both sides, York were out-gunned by Hull who scored seven tries en route to a comfortable victory.
Although Katie Camp scored an early try, Hull turned things around thanks to their lively backs and big strong forwards, ending up deserving winners.
The match had to be concluded early, however, as neither side had enough players to see out the full 80 minutes, such was the physicality of the contest.
But there was plenty of goodwill between the two sets of players, as York captain Ellen Larson switched sides to make up Hull’s XV during the second half.
York will feel disappointed with the margin of defeat, particularly after their lightning start. They established an early territorial advantage, winning several scrums just outside the 22 metre line. Following one of these after five minutes, Emily Speller received the ball in centre-field and skinned at least half a dozen Hull players.
She then off-loaded possession at the last second before a crunching tackle to Katie Camp who touched down unopposed to make it 5-0 to York, the conversion being hit wide.
The try was met with huge cheers from the touchlines, as the men’s barbarians players offered extra support due to their delayed match.
But Hull worked their way back into it; a long spell of pressure slowly but surely pushed York back to their five metre line. The inside centre went over to level things at 5-5.
York replied bravely, however, pushing York back straight from the restart. Scrum half Emma Nugent was finding teammates with some incisive passing but Hull held firm at the vital moments.
After breaking out from the resulting turnover, fullback Kat Arscott was forced into drastic action to prevent York going behind.
The Hull player had raced through, kicking the ball ahead of everybody behind her and was on course for a try-scoring opportunity. But Arscott felled the hopeful Hull girl in what can only be described as a ‘professional foul’ for which there was surprisingly no sin bin punishment.
But from the resulting scrum, Hull powered their way over the line again and scored the conversion to open up a 12-5 lead.
With seven first half minutes remaining, Hull scored a devastating third try to make it 17-5. The scrum five metres out under the posts was too difficult to handle for York, as Hull’s fullback sprinted through the defensive ranks to score.
On the stroke of half time, Hull scored a fourth to effectively diminish any chance of a York comeback with the scores at 22-5.
The second half began with Hull going over again; this time it was the inside centre who profited from slack York defending.
By this stage, however, the game was being interrupted on a regular basis by injuries to players on both sides. It forced York captain Ellen Larson to play for Hull as they had no substitutes to make up the numbers.
Predictably, Larson scored for Hull fifteen minutes into the second half to make it 32-5. The final seventh try was scored soon after following fluid play on the left wing allowing the outside centre to crash the ball down.
And that was the last meaningful action of the match as injuries understandably took their toll and the match was terminated early.