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Amid freezing rain, snow, and a swirling breeze off the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute home side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the makings of a difficult night's task for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the players was excellent."

The Rosenior has this place close to his heart, considering some of his family hail from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Championship club. His positive connection was extended with a commanding display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a two-goal lead in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The capacity Hull support evidently felt it too, but the London side navigated the challenge with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, making seven of them to his XI. The match could and maybe ought to have been decided long before it eventually was, with both the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for missing glorious chances to put their side ahead in the first half.

However, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless mood. He broke the scoring with a marvellous distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to assume command of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with Neto netting a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

The home side displayed great fight throughout, but the better opportunities always fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced off the crossbar, and Delap began to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had responded to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential 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. Shortly after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after the second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from the forward laid on Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his hat-trick as Delap again delivered the crucial pass for the attacker to coolly convert by a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the first half-hour had long since erased. Their focus must now return to achieving a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several key individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good position in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive example of how we should play."

There was plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a late goal when a substitute struck a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging step forward for their new head coach at a stadium he knows intimately.

Cup History Are Good

The result made for an ultimately straightforward evening’s work, and the cup competition signs are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the final. Much still work in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.