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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a biting breeze from the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the makings of a challenging evening’s task for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from both sets of fans. The application of the players was superb."

The Rosenior has this place close to his heart, considering some of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Tigers. His happy association continued with a commanding performance from his squad, who in the end strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity Hull crowd clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge with ease.

The manager made alterations, making multiple of them to his XI. The match might and perhaps ought to have been settled long before it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of missing glorious chances to put their side in front in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a marvellous long-range strike, which acted as the catalyst for his team to take control of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Impact

The home side displayed great spirit throughout, but the better opportunities always came to the visitors. The winger should have broken the deadlock when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which bounced off the bar, and Delap started to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had responded to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, providing three assists. The first was for the first goal as his pass set up Neto to score from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as the forward's set-piece went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Turns

Soon after the second goal, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from Delap laid on Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as the provider again played the decisive ball for the attacker to calmly convert by a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had done in the first half-hour had long since erased. Their focus must now return to securing a return to the top division under their manager, who left out a number of key players with that aim in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good situation in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

There was great endeavour to the end, and they almost got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive step forward for their new head coach at a place he knows intimately.

Cup Omens Look Good

The result made for an in the end straightforward night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. There is still done in that respect, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.