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Amid sleet, snow, and a biting wind from the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute home side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult night's work for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I am very pleased with the performance," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a good reception from the fans of fans. The application of the lads was superb."

The Rosenior has this place close to his heart, considering some of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Championship club. His positive connection was extended with a commanding display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Secures Comprehensive Win

Three days after surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity home crowd evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge with ease.

The manager made alterations, enacting seven of them to his XI. The match might and maybe should have been settled long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of missing excellent opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a marvellous long-range effort, which proved to be the spark for his team to assume control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward netting three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Influence

Hull displayed great spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which came off the crossbar, and he began to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from there on out, providing three assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass set up Neto to finish from range. Shortly after the restart, it was two as Neto's set-piece went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after the second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as Delap again delivered the crucial pass for the attacker to calmly convert by a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their focus must now return to achieving a promotion to the top division under their manager, who left out several first-choice players with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good example of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup History Are Promising

That resulted in an in the end routine evening’s performance, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the showpiece. There is remains to be done in that respect, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.