The game of round sixteen saw fourth place Hull FC travel to the Halliwell-Jones to take on third placed Warrington Wolves who themselves were looking to get back to winning ways after being beaten in Newcastle at the Magic weekend.
Hull FC’s injury woes worsened last weekend when Josh Griffin picked up a long term injury to further complicate the log-jam in the physiotherapist room. The Wolves named Ben Pomeroy in their seventeen after re-signing him from Lezignan Sangliers earlier in the month.
A win by six points or more for Hull would lift them above the Wolves into third and consolidate their place in the top four.
FC came out of the blocks the sharper and Dean Hadley opened the scoring on six minutes after a hich kick was palmed back by Jake Connor and into the hands of the centre to go over. Connor added the conversion.
It was twelve points in twelve minutes when Mickey Paea crashed over under the sticks, again after a penalty in Hulls favour. Connor was again accurate with the boot and FC were in full control.
Josh Charnley thought he’d scored on twenty-six but referee Hewer blew for a forward pass.
Warrington steadied the ship after the initial Hull onslught bit were unable to break their line and the visitors went into the interval with a 12-0 lead.
The Wolves struck first at the start of the second half when Harvey Livett Stretched out to ground off a Kevin Brown bullet pass. The young second rower converted his own try and the margin was down to six points.
On fifty-two Kevin Brown rolled over the line to ground afer some woeful FC tackling saw two players slip off the ball carrier as he went for the line. Livett added the extras to tie up the scores at 12-12.
Ben Murdoch-Masila went close on fifty-five, and three minutes later the Hull defence couldn’t stop him as he went over for the third unanswered Warrington try. Livett added the extras for a terrific turnaround as the home side went 18-12 ahead.
On sixty-two it was becoming a Warrington procession as Josh Charnley had a walk-in try in the right corner off a no-look pass from Ryan Atkins. Livett added the goal for 24-12, FC were no longer in the game and had just wilted away.
Ryan Atkins waltzed through a non-existant FC defence on sixty-nine to cross and improve the angle, enabling Livett to kick his fifth goal of the game.
There were two sides of Warrington on show tonight. In the first half they were well below par but for the second forty they dominated a tired Hull side and tore them apart, seemingly scoring at will for a big win to maintain the pressure on the Wigan Warriors in second place.
The same applies to Hull, although with nine first-teamers absent there is a simpler explanation for them only playing forty minutes of rugby.
Wolves: Ratchford, Lineham, Brown M, Atkins (T), Charnley (T), Brown K (T), Roberts, Hill, Clark, Murdoch-Masila (T), Livett (T, 5G), Hughes, Westwood. Subs: King, Patton, Philbin, Pomeroy
FC: Shaul, Miloudi, Scott, Hadley (T), Logan, Connor (2G), Harris, Paea (T), Houghton, Green, Manu, Minichiello, Westerman. Subs: Fash, Lane, Matongo, Matongo.
Referee: Gareth Hewer.
Half-Time: 0-12.
Full-Time: 30-12.
Attendance: .
