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

"We could have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I’m delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a good reception from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the players was superb."

Liam Rosenior holds this place dear to him, considering some of his family are from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. His happy association continued with a magnificent performance from his team, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Secures Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed home crowd clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The match could and perhaps should have been settled earlier than it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of spurning glorious opportunities to put their side ahead in the first half.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous distance effort, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to assume control of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Influence

Hull displayed plenty of spirit throughout, but the clearer opportunities consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have broken the scoring when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

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

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, providing three assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass set up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after the second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from Delap laid on his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as the provider again delivered the crucial pass for the attacker to calmly slot by a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the opening thirty minutes had been erased. Their focus must now switch back to securing a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of key players with that aim in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

There was great effort to the end, and they almost got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive stride for their new head coach at a place he knows very well.

FA Cup Omens Look Good

That resulted in an in the end routine night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. There is still done in that respect, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.