Both teams came into this East Yorkshire v West Yorkshire clash with three wins and three losses from their last six games, and sitting next to each other in the table: Huddersfield in sixth, Hull in seventh, having both played 14 games.

Both teams had a faint hope of making the top for play-offs and being an outside contender for this year’s title – but to do that they would need to win this and every other game of the season.

It was Hull who opened the scoring after a fairly scrappy opening five minutes, when a slick move from left to right saw Carlos Tuimavave hold his opposing defender and flick a pass out to Ratu Naulago who dotted the ball down in the cornder despite while being pushed into touch by the Fartown defence.

Marc Sneyd made no mistake with the touchline conversion and the Black and Whites led 6-0.

The team from Hull kept up the pressure, forcing two goal-line drop-outs from Huddersfield in the next ten minutes, with all the match action taking place in the Giant’s 30m zone. But the defence held strong.

As the first half moved on both teams pressed their opponents lines, but couldn’t turn chances into scores … until Leroy Cudjoe found Jermaine McGilvray hugging the sideline and he put the ball down on the whitewash on the corner.

Aiden Sezer couldn’t find the uprights from the sideline and pulled his conversion attempt short, leaving the scoreline at 6-4 in Hull’s favour.

And then, in the final minute of the half, Hull, in the shape of Sneyd, opted to run the ball Mahe Fonua scored in the corner from 20 yards. Sneyd notched up a rare miss when he tried to add the extras, and the Black ad Whites went into the dressing rooms 10-4 up.

They came out after the break threatening to extend the break but Tevita Satae lost the ball and knocked on with the Giant’s line seemingly at his mercy.

And in the next set a rare handling error form Sneyd gifted Huddersfield possession in Hull’s half and Matty English latched onto a precision kick from Sezer in front of the posts to score a straightforward try. Given the position, Sezer’s conversion to level the scores was a formality.

But the stalemate didn’t last long. Just minutes later, a superb break by Jamie Shaul, improved by a smart offload, saw them in march 60 yards into dangerous territory and th set was ended off when Josh Griffin passed outside to winger Bureta Faraimo, who maintained the practice of scoring in the corner.

Sneyd’s conversion restored Hull six-point lead at 16-10.

In a tit-for-tat move Sezer latched onto a sharp pass from substitute Tom Holmes to run through a misdirected defence and, once he’d converted his own try from the centre of the field, level the score once more at 16-16 on 61 minutes.

It stayed locked up into the last 10, and then – after Sezer missed a drop-goal attempt for Huddersfield – Kenny Edwards gave away a penalty 30 metres from the Giants’ line and Sneyd put Hull two points in front with five minutes to go.

And their defence ensured it stayed that way, with a tackle into touch being the icing on the cake in the last minute, which closed out Huddersfield and kept Hull’s off-chance of a play-off spot in play for at least one more week.

Hull FC: Shaul, Faraimo (T), Fonua (T), Tuimavave, Naulago (T), Conner, Sneyd (2G, P), Gowden, Johnstone, Sao, Griffin, Savelio, Cator. Replacements: Satae, Fash, Brown, McNamara

Huddersfield Giants: Golding, McGillvary (T), Cudjoe, Wardle, Samwood, Gaskell, Sezer (T, 2G) (T), McQueen, Moore, Matagi, Edwards, Wardle, Lawrence. Replacements: Turner, English, Holmes, Hewitt.

Referee: Scott Mikalauskas

Half Time: 10-4

Full Time:

Venue: Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington.