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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a biting breeze from the banks of the Humber, alongside a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a challenging night's work for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I’m delighted with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from the fans of fans. The attitude of the players was excellent."

The Rosenior holds this place close to his heart, considering some of his relatives are from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Tigers. His positive association was extended with a commanding display from his team, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Secures Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed Hull crowd evidently felt it too, but the London side handled the challenge with ease.

The manager made alterations, making multiple of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps ought to have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for missing glorious opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical mood. He broke the scoring with a spectacular distance strike, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

Hull displayed plenty of spirit all game, but the better opportunities consistently fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have opened the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which came back from the crossbar, and Delap began to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering 3 key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass teed up Neto to score from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went straight in through Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from the forward laid on his teammate to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as Delap again delivered the crucial pass for the attacker to calmly convert past a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we play 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 positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed great effort to the end, and they almost got a late goal when a substitute struck a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he knows intimately.

Cup History Look Good

That resulted in an in the end straightforward night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have gone on to make the showpiece. There is remains to be work in that regard, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.