The Black & Whites fell to an agonizing Golden Point defeat to Wakefield Trinity, with a Jacob Miller drop-goal in extra time securing a 19-18 win for the hosts.
Brett Hodgson’s men led for the entirety of the regular period thanks to a brace from Adam Swift and a score from Darnell McIntosh, but a try from Lee Gaskell in the last minute was converted by Mason Lino to send the game into Golden Point.
Despite several opportunities to win the game in the additional period, it was former Hull man Miller who slotted over the winning drop-goal to secure a comeback win for Wakefield.
Team News
Brett Hodgson was forced into two changes from the BIG Day Out victory over Wigan Warriors, as Carlos Tuimavave (calf) and Ligi Sao (knee) missed out due to injuries picked up a fortnight ago.
Their places were taken in the side by Cam Scott, returning from a long injury layoff of his own and Brad Fash who returned after missing the clash with the Cup Winners because of concussion.
Wakefield coach Willie Poching also made two changes from the West Yorkshire side’s last outing, as he welcomed back Lewis Murphy and Tinirau Arona to the side in place of former Hull KR man Thomas Minns and Liam Kay.
The Match
Hull coach Brett Hodgson would have been delighted with their first half at the Be Well Support Stadium, going in with an 18 – 6 lead at the break thanks to a first half brace from Adam Swift and a try from Darnell McIntosh, the fourth game in a row he’d got over the line.
Wakefield were rocked by an early injury to former Hull man Reece Lyne, whose yelps in pain could be heard in the main stand.
From there, Hull asserted their authority on the match, with neat hands from both Jack Brown and Scott Taylor contributing to line breaks, with a smart kick from Josh Reynolds forcing a goal line drop out.
That drop out led to Hull’s first points of the afternoon, Jake Connor creating space on the left and hitting Adam Swift with a lovely pass for the winger to dive over in the corner to score. Luke Gale was on target from the touchline with his first attempt of the afternoon.
Wakefield went close shortly after, but Tom Lineham’s pass to Mason Lino was judged forward by referee Marcus Griffiths.
The man in the middle was making the same call less than five minutes later, as Manu Ma’u and Connor Wynne exchanged passes, the latter finding an offload to Luke Gale to slide over the line, but again, the pass was called forward.
However, it didn’t take long for Hull to get their second try of the afternoon, and it came in similar fashion to the first, Jake Connor taking the ball in space and creating an overlap for his winger to stroll in in the corner, this time Darnell McIntosh the beneficiary. Gale again was on target from the touchline.
Gale maintained his accuracy from the tee as Hull won a penalty in front of the posts after Adam Swift burned away from Tom Lineham and a penalty came on the next tackle, which was unduly dispatched into the corporate boxes.
Wakefield hit back through Matty Ashurst to reduce the deficit, the backrower charging through a hole from 30 meters out and just having the pace to score despite Jake Connor’s tackle just shy of the line.
Hull ended the half back in the ascendency, forcing an error from Trinity in their own half with around 30 seconds left, and were able to make that pressure tell.
Luke Gale hit a nice kick in the Wakefield in goal area which was allowed to bounce around, and Adam Swift was able to wait for the ball to settle and fall on the ball.
Half Time: Wakefield Trinity 6 – 18 Hull FC
After an entertaining first half full of points, the second was quite the opposite.
It took nearly half an hour for the deadlock to be broken, Corey Hall latching onto a mistake from Darnell McIntosh to walk over the line and score, with Mason Lino converting to bring the scores back to within a converted try.
Before that, the action was dominated by defences, with neither side able to convert territory to points, with perhaps the biggest talking point a nasty looking injury to Jake Connor. Connor was looking to reach over and score, but when twisting to get over the line was unable to get up and left the Be Well Support Stadium with his knee in a brace.
After a midfield battle in the first half hour, the remainder of the game was anything but, with Wakefield camped on the Hull try line, but the Black & Whites remained resolute to everything Trinity threw at them, with Jacob Miller and David Fifita stopped just shy of the line under severe pressure from Hull.
However, that resolve was broken with just 90 seconds on the clock as Lee Gaskell crossed for the West Yorkshire side on Hull’s left, which Mason Lino converted to take the clash to Golden Point.
Wakefield were to keep that momentum in Golden Point, despite two shots at a drop goal from Luke Gale it was to be the hosts that took the spoils, Jacob Miller nailing his attempt from 30 meters out.
Full Time: Wakefield Trinity 19 – 18 Hull FC
Teams
Wakefield Trinity: Lee Gaskell, Tom Lineham, Reece Lyne, Corey Hall, Lewis Murphy, Jacob Miller, Mason Lino, David Fifita, Liam Hood, Jai Whitebread, Matty Ashurst, Jay Pitts, James Batchelor.
Interchange: Jordan Crowther, Kelepi Tanginoa, Rob Butler, Tinirau Arona.
Hull FC: Jake Connor, Darnell McIntosh, Cam Scott, Connor Wynne, Adam Swift, Josh Reynolds, Luke Gale, Scott Taylor, Danny Houghton, Kane Evans, Manu Ma’u, Jordan Lane, Jack Brown.
Interchange: Brad Fash, Chris Satae, Joe Lovodua, Josh Griffin.
Scorers
Wakefield Trinity: Ashurst, Hall, Gaskell | Goals: Lino 3/3
Hull FC: Swift (2), McIntosh | Goals: Gale 3/4
Attendance: 4486
Campbell Engineering Man of the Match: Adam Swift
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