Martin explains FC's big demand on him

Lewis Martin's winning try for Hull FC last Saturday wasn't by chance. It was the result of sheer hard work on the training ground.

- By DAN TOMLINSON

In fact, his try was down to one key area the winger has been working on this season: his defensive positioning.

Those reps in training saw the 20-year-old, along with Davy Litten and co., put the pressure on, force a mistake, and get the decisive six points that saw them defeat Leigh Leopards 18-12 to maintain their Super League playoff place.

For Martin, it was just reward for a season that continues to see him go from strength to strength.

He told the Mail: "Lasty (Andy Last) has been into both me and Davy about getting high on the end of the line and then staying high. We tried to do that all game and we did it well. It puts the pressure on and when we saw the ball hit the deck, it was about reacting first. I just booted it and luckily it bounced up for me. It was just a quick instinct.

"We've been working on it at training and when we get up high, it puts us in the position to force an error or make a strong tackle, and then when we do, we can get on that error. We've been doing it well recently but we've got to keep on doing it."

And as for Hull's win and playoff charge, Martin continued: "That was one of the toughest games of the year. We knew coming into the game what Leigh were going to be like and what they were going to throw at us but we got the job done.

"Every game is just huge for us, so to tick that one off and get the win at home and to get the winning try was good.