As the Warrington Wolves prepared to face Hull FC at the
Halliwell-Jones in a crucial round sixteen encounter, they knew that their chances
of making the top six were slipping away on the back of three consecutive
losses which sees them languishing in eighth spot in the table, five points
behind today’s opponents.
Despite the recent run of losses, the bookies still had the
Wolves as favourites for the win and had handicapped them by six points on the
coupon even though it was Hull who had won the previous encounter in April by
28-16.
The Wolves were surrounded by uncertainty in relation to the
future of the coach Sam Burgess, and their skipper George Williams, this was
the perfect time for a confidence boost.
A fantastic Josh Thewis solo effort opened the scoring for
the home side as he broke from his own forty metre line and outpaced the
chasing tacklers to score under the posts. Marc Sneyd added the extras for an
early 6-0 lead, just what the doctor ordered.
Not to be outdone by his brother, Jake Thewlis added
Warrington’s second on fifteen as he took a miss-out pass from Matt Dufty to go
down the left wing and over in the corner. Sneyd was again on target, the second
conversion with a degree of difficulty more than the first.
Hull finally broke their zero on twenty-eight when a
brilliant drop of the shoulder and break from Aidan Sezer saw him to the Wolves
twenty before he threw the pass to Harvey Barron who skirted the defence to
cross. Sezer was wide with the conversion attempt, FC still eight points
adrift.
Four minutes from the interval the Airlie Birds were right
back in the game as Sezer flew onto a pass and then muscled his way through the
Wolves defence to score from ten metres out, slightly improving the angle to
add the extras himself for 10-12 at the interval.
Five minutes after the restart a George Williams break
gained Warrington good field position and two plays later as Sam Powell scooted
from dummy half for a five metre try. Sneyd added the conversion for 18-10, a
little breathing space re-established by the home side.
Three minutes later and the home side were in again. Matt
Dufty with the break this time before finding Lachlan Fitzgibbon in space
inside to canter home from fifteen metres out. Sneyd kicked a fourth goal of
the afternoon for 24-10, the game starting to escape Hull.
Lewis Martin leapt for the corner on sixty-six but despite
sending the decision to the video referee as try it was overruled and denied,
it felt like Hull’s last chance to get back into the game had evaporated.
Despite the loss, Hull FC retain their top six place thanks
to Wakefield’s loss last night. The Warrington Wolves get a confidence boost
and re-vitalised hope for their own top six aspirations as they head into the
last eleven games of the season.
Warrington Wolves: Dufty, Thewlis Josh (T), Wrench, Tai, Thewlis
Jake (T), Williams, Sneyd (G 4/4), Yates, Crowther, Vaughan, Stone, Fitzgibbon
(T), Currie. Subs: Powell (T), Thomas,
Harrison, Ratchford. 18th Man: McKinney.
Hull FC: Rapana, Barron (T), Briscoe, Litten, Martin, Cust,
Sezer (T, G 1/2), Ese’ese, Bourouh, Knight, Hardaker, Chamberlain, Aydin. Subs:
Ashworth, Fash, Charles, Eseh. 18th Man: Laidlaw.
Half-Time: 12-10.
Full-Time: 24-10.
Score Progression: 4-0, 6-0, 10-0, 12-0, 12-4, 12-8, 12-10 :
HT: 16-10, 18-10, 22-10, 24-10 :FT.
Lead Exchanges: Warrington.
Referee: Chris Kendall.
