Hull FC progressed to the Betfred Super League play-off semi-finals with a hard-fought 27-14 victory over Warrington Wolves at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
A Marc Sneyd masterclass inspired the Black & Whites onto their win, with a 100% goal-kicking record and a drop goal on the night.
Bureta Faraimo, Joe Cator, Chris Satae and Jake Connor were all on the scoresheet for Andy Last’s side, who will face Wigan Warriors in next week’s semi-final at the DW Stadium.
Team News
Andy Last made just one change to the side that faced Hull Kingston Rovers a fortnight ago, with Josh Griffin replacing teenage halfback Ben McNamara.
Despite limping off in that match, Connor shook off a knee problem and started at fullback tonight, deputising for the injured Jamie Shaul.
Warrington were without former Black & Whites winger Tom Lineham suspension, whilst instrumental prop forward Mike Cooper was side-lined through injury.
The Match
After weathering an early storm with some scramble defence, Hull had their first sight of Warrington’s try line after 15 minutes. Mahe Fonua looked to have opened the scoring, but some exemplary defence from the Wolves kept the scores level.
Hull kept the pressure up and opened the scoring when FC caught the Warrington defence napping on a shortside play, Griffin supplying Faraimo to draw first blood in the corner. Sneyd nailed the touchline conversion.
The Wolves had been playing at a fast pace throughout the first half, and that speed helped them score their first points of the game. Quick hands saw the young Ashton dive over in the corner, but Ratchford couldn’t add the extras, so Hull remained in front by two points.
More Warrington pressure lead to another try for the hosts, as some second-phase play caught Hull cold. A kick from Widdop was well claimed in the air by Gelling, and the former Wigan centre had enough strength to ground the ball. Ratchford missed the target with the conversion once again.
No sooner than they had fallen behind, the Black & Whites were back in front. Connor slid in a teasing grubber kick, which caused chaos amongst the Warrington defenders – Cator was there to claim the free ball and score underneath the sticks. Sneyd’s conversion made it 12-8 five minutes from half-time.
With just 25 seconds on the clock before the interval, Sneyd kept the scoreboard ticking with a finely struck drop-goal from 20 metres out.
HALF-TIME: Hull FC 13-8 Warrington
The Airlie Birds struck first blood in the second half, which was only three minutes old. It was another Connor assist – Satae was on the other end of his lateral run and the powerhouse forward muscled his way over the try line. Sneyd added the extras.
Back-to-back errors from Hull FC gave Warrington a way back into the game with 28 minutes on the clock. Widdop and Austin linked up and the ball was eventually sprayed wide towards Ashton, who dived in for his second of the evening. Ratchford converted to cut Hull’s lead down to five points.
Warrington thought they had scored again, this time in the other corner of Hull’s in-goal area, but a referral to the video referee showed that the ball had gone dead in the build-up.
As both sides valiantly went toe-to-toe during a brutal ten minute spell, it was Hull who were afforded some respite when they were awarded a penalty inside the Wolves’ half. Sneyd struck the ball cleanly and put the Black & Whites 21-14 ahead with eleven minutes remaining.
Hull took control of the match in the final ten minutes, and sealed their play-off semi-final fate when kick pressure forced the ball to fall out of Ben Currie’s hands inside the in goal area – Connor pounced on the loose ball and Sneyd added the extras.
FULL-TIME: Hull FC 27-14 Warrington
Squads & Scorers
Hull: Jake Connor, Ratu Naulago, Mahe Fonua, Josh Griffin, Bureta Faraimo, Carlos Tuimavave, Marc Sneyd, Scott Taylor, Jordan Johnstone, Josh Bowden, Manu Ma’u, Andre Savelio, Joe Cator
Hull Interchanges: Brad Fash, Danny Houghton, Ligi Sao, Chris Satae
Hull Tries: Faraimo, Cator, Satae, Connor
Hull Goals: Sneyd (5/5), (DG)
Warrington: Stefan Ratchford, Matty Ashton, Toby King, Anthony Gelling, Josh Charnley, Blake Austin, Gareth Widdop, Chris Hill, Daryl Clark, Joe Philbin, Ben Currie, Jack Hughes, Jason Clark
Warrington Interchanges: Matt Davies, Jake Mamo, Ben Murdoch-Masila, Ellis Robson
Warrington Tries: Ashton (2), Gelling
Warrington Goals: Ratchford (1/3)
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