The Black & Whites came from behind to continue their impressive start to the 2025 Betfred Super League season, defeating Wakefield Trinity 16-12 at the DIY Kitchens Stadium.
In a game where defences were on top for the majority of the contest, tries in the final quarter from Ed Chamberlain and Lewis Martin got the Airlie Birds over the line to make it just one defeat in their opening six games so far this season.
The Airlie Birds bring the points back to East Yorkshire in front of a phenomenal travelling crowd of over 2,200 Black & White supporters – part of a sell-put crowd in Wakefield.
Team News
John Cartwright made two changes to the side that defeated Wigan Warriors in the Challenge Cup six days ago, with Ed Chamberlain and Liam Watts both coming onto the bench.
The pair replaced Harvey Barron (hamstring) and Hugo Salabio (dual-reg).
The injury to Barron caused a slight shuffle in the backs for FC. Logan Moy started at fullback and Jordan Rapana moved out to the wing.
Wakefield’s Challenge Cup victory on Sunday came at a cost, with Max Jowitt, Jake Trueman, Matty Storton and Isaiah Vagana all suffering injuries that ruled them out of action tonight.
Former Black & Whites Josh Griffin and Cam Scott were timely returnees from the physio room, whilst Josh Rourke, Oliver Russell, Jay Pitts and Ky Rodwell also came into Daryl Powell’s side.
The Match
The first points of the evening came from the kicking tee as Mason Lino slotted over an early penalty goal with Lewis Martin coming into contact with a drop-out that hadn’t travelled ten metres.
That, paired with some strong front-loaded defence from the hosts, put Hull on the back foot, and Liam Hood’s short pass out of dummy-half allowed Jack Croft to power over from close range for the game’s first try with just under ten minutes played.
Trinity were in again a couple of minutes later when Josh Rourke picked the pocket of Moy under a high ball, but Hull’s blushes were spared when the video referee intervened and spotted the Wakefield fullback had strayed offside on the kick chase.
Hull fought strongly to get back into the game and match Wakefield’s early intensity. Aidan Sezer’s kick towards Zak Hardaker was diffused by Tom Johnstone as the visitors established their first spell of pressure in the game.
But the Black & Whites switched from the aerial route on the final play and instead opted for the powerplay. John Asiata’s tip-on pass allowed Ese’ese to power his way over the whitewash from ten metres out to register FC’s first points of the night.
In a bid to re-assert their dominance, Wakefield got back to applying some pressure, but two waves of attack were met with a wall of Black & White defence, with numbers in the tackle to take Trinity attackers out into touch.
As the first-half appeared to be petering out, a rapid break from young hooker Harvey Smith had FC at panic stations as they scrambled back to make a cover tackle. On the next play, a smart kick saw Johnstone rise highest to claim the ball and dot down, but for a second time in the first-half, Trinity were denied by the video referee with the winger offside.
Half-Time: Trinity 8-6 Hull
Hull’s first-half efforts came at a cost, with Cade Cust forced off with a back injury and Jed Cartwright having to leave just before the break with what appeared to be a hamstring problem.
Things didn’t get much better on the discipline front at the start of the second-half, either. Back-to-back penalties invited more Wakefield pressure onto Hull’s front doorstep. The pressure told as Lino sliced through to score, but the video referee chalked off a third Trinity try, this time for an obstruction.
Sloppiness descended onto the game, though, with errors from both sides souring the contest.
A Moy error asked another question of the Hull FC defence, but they answered the necessary questions when Ky Rodwell was stopped in his tracks under the posts before Zak Hardaker intercepted Josh Griffin’s speculative offload.
After all of the pressure on the Hull try line, when the opportunity arose, the Black & Whites cashed in to take the lead for the first time on the night. Sezer chimed into the line and freed up Chamberlain, who took on Rourke for pace and won the race to score in the left corner.
On the back of a successful captain’s challenge, where Hull were awarded possession back for a ball strip, the visitors went in search of a third try. John Asiata’s offload under the sticks gave Sezer some thinking time with the ball – his pass offered Chamberlain with a half-chance, but Oliver Pratt did well to shut down the FC centre.
It appeared that Hull had started to win the psychological battle, however, with Wakefield cutting a frustrated figure. That was epitomised when Lino’s long-range kick sailed out on the full, giving Hull the ball back 30 metres out from Trinity’s try line.
But the Black & Whites made sure they capitalised on their next opportunity, with Martin continuing his fine try-scoring form by grounding a Sezer grubber kick in the left corner.
Briscoe coughed up possession shortly afterwards, though. That put Wakefield in a great position, and Scott was in the right place at the right time to take Mike McMeeken’s offload to claim possession and score.
But the Black & Whites held on in the closing stages to see them climb to third in the table, and continue their fine start to the Betfred Super League campaign.
Full-Time: Trinity 12-16 Hull
Squads & Scorers
Trinity: Rourke, Pratt, Scott, Hall, Johnstone, Lino, Russell, McMeeken, Hood, Hamlin-Uele, Griffin, Croft, Pitts
Trinity Interchanges: Atoni, Faatili, Rodwell, Smith
Trinity Tries: Croft, Scott
Trinity Goals: Lino (2/3)
Hull: Moy, Rapana, Hardaker, Briscoe, Martin, Cust, Sezer, Ese’ese, Bourouh, Knight, Cartwright, Lane, Asiata
Hull Interchanges: Ashworth, Chamberlain, Fash, Watts
Hull Tries: Ese’ese, Chamberlain, Martin
Hull Goals: Sezer (2/3)
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