McDermott mocks the odds after beating Hull

Brian McDermott is happy to joke about bookmakers believing he will be the first Super League coach to get sacked this season. "I've had a tenner on myself," he said after his Harlequins team, who leaked 47 points at home to Wigan in the opening round, outplayed Hull in front of their disgruntled supporters.

Hull were booed off at halftime and many fans headed for the exits long before the end. Coach Peter Sharp said the booing was justified. 'Our fans pay good money to watch us and they expect to see passion and energy.

"We started poorly and gifted Harlequins a couple of tries with our unforced errors. It was always going to be hard to get back at them after that and we just didn't do enough right. But we need the fans to be patient because we're going through a tough patch."

Hull's pre-season injury nightmare — they were missing seven senior players again — came home to roost, yet the target of the crowd's wrath was full back Motu Tony, who was unnerved by Danny Orr's tactical kicking. Quins grew in confidence after three tries in the opening 16 minutes through Rob Purdham, David Howell and Matt Gafa.

Hull had plenty of scoring opportunities, but lacked leadership and their ball control and decision-making repeatedly let them down.

Chad Randall, outstanding at hooker for Quins, and Gafa, with his second try, stretched the lead to 24-0 and only Shaun Berrigan's late touchdown spared Hull from being 'nilled'.

Quins coach McDermott's biggest worry was when his Australian stand off Scott Hill was carried off in a neck brace after a lengthy hold-up early in the second half. McDermott said: "He will still be out for about six weeks. Our focus after losing to Wigan was to give a good performance. I was quite prepared to come off second best as long as we played well."

They did. The problems were all Hull's.