Hull withstood a ferocious second-half fightback from rivals Hull KR as their city derby made a thrilling return after a 10-year absence.

Inspired by returning playmaker Paul Cooke - a boyhood Robins fan - Hull opened up a 16-4 lead in a first engage Super League meeting between the clubs but Rovers hit back in a thrilling finish.

Quickfire tries from David Tangata-Toa and Andreas Bauer midway through the second period at the 23,002 sell-out KC Stadium got the visitors within two points but the hosts held on.

Sid Domic settled the game when he crashed over by the posts in the final minute and Cooke kicked his third goal of the afternoon.

Cooke, returning after six weeks out injured, had appeared the spark underachieving Hull had been lacking as he created tries for Danny Tickle and Shaun Briscoe in the first half.

Yet Rovers had only themselves to blame for allowing their rivals to cross twice in the first 20 minutes.

Jon Goddard was the first guilty party as he spilled a high Cooke kick and allowed the hosts possession in dangerous territory.

Cooke then wasted no time in spinning out a long pass for Gareth Raynor and the winger quickly shovelled the ball inside to put Tickle over.

Hull maintained the momentum and their constant probing paid off as Byron Ford knocked on at a routine play-the-ball.

Hull powered forward and Cooke again was the architect as he put full-back Briscoe through a gap to touch down.

Cooke converted for the second time but then made his first mistake to give Rovers a chance when he dropped the ensuing kick-off.

Rovers pressed but they could not initially force their way over the line with several Hull tacklers getting back to keep out Dyer.

Yet the visitors grew in confidence and James Webster - Rovers' own returning star - set up an exciting second half when he fired the pass for Dyer to make the score 12-4 at the interval.

Rovers made a positive start to the second half after Hull made a hash of the kick-off and were forced to drop out from under the posts.

The visitors enjoyed good pressure but could not make it count with Cooke grabbing a loose ball from a poor Jon Steel pass and a Ben Fisher kick running dead.

Hull made them pay as they countered from a Webster kick with Motu Tony and Matt Sing exchanging passes to carry the ball deep into the Rovers half.

Rovers struggled to get back and Cooke again hurt them with a brilliant long pass to put Sing over in the corner.

Yet Rovers, backed by a noisy following of around 4,000, were not done and responded with two quickfire tries.

First, Tangata-Toa crashed over by the posts from a superb back-flip pass by Fisher and Scott Murrell converted.

A penalty then allowed Rovers further possession and Webster spread the ball wide for Andreas Bauer to narrow the scores to 16-14.

With 20 minutes remaining Rovers pushed hard but could not forge a lead as the Hull defence held firm under pressure.

The hosts looked like scraping home by two points but Domic made sure when he powered over with seconds remaining and Cooke converted.