Wakefield Trinity moved above Hull FC in the Super 8s table with a 31-13 victory in East Yorkshire. Here’s our verdict…
MATCH DETAILS
Wakefield Trinity followed up their recent record-breaking 72-10 victory over Hull FC with a 31-13 win at the KCOM Stadium on Friday night, taking Chris Chester’s side above the Black and Whites into sixth.
Lee Radford’s hosts were 13-7 up and a man to the good after 50 minutes, but following Max Jowitt’s return from the sin-bin, the visitors added a late flurry of points to take the win.
In a quiet first half of only two tries, Hull prop Scott Taylor barged over inside 10 minutes, throwing a dummy before crashing past the challenges of Anthony England and Chris Annakin.
It took until 32 minutes for Wakefield to respond, but Craig Huby finished in similar fashion as Taylor to level the scores, taking a flat pass from hooker Kyle Wood and powering over the whitewash.
The sides would then exchange drop goals in the last two minutes of the half, with Jacob Miller and Marc Sneyd slotting one-pointers to leave the game finely poised at 7-7 at the break.
After an uninspiring ten minutes when the game resumed, Trinity full-back Jowitt was shown a yellow card by referee Jack Smith for throwing the ball away after Danny Houghton had given Hull field position with a 40/20.
The Black and Whites may not have scored from the resulting set, but they did so six minutes later when Jamie Shaul received the ball and ran through a gap created by Ben Jones-Bishop, who had come out of position expecting a pass out wide from the Englishman.
Jowitt returned from the sidelines on the hour mark, and after being restored to their full compliment, Trinity grinded out the win. Bill Tupou found space between Jack Downs and Jordan Abdull to finish, before Pauli Pauli charged on to Ryan Hampshire’s short ball to get over.
The pick of the tries was scored by Tom Johnstone, who scored his 18th of the Super League season after receiving the ball on the wing from Miller and cutting back inside with a weaving run, beating a number of Hull defenders and touch down.
The victory was sealed with four extra goals from Hampshire, including two in the final minute.
WHAT WE’VE LEARNED
Hull fail to take advantage
Hull would have been wise to make the most of Jowitt’s temporary departure from the game. While the hosts did get over through Shaul’s try, another couple of tries with the extra man could have made all the difference.
Wakey can be great – in spells
It was that failure that led to Wakefield securing the victory. Chester’s men rallied after regaining their full-back, and were impressive in adding three tries in an eight minute spell to snuff out any potential comeback.
Man of the Match – Jacob Miller (Wakefield)
Not only did he keep his side in touch with a first-half drop goal, but Miller laid on two assists for his teammates on Friday night and was crucial in keeping the attack ticking over.
THE RESULT
Hull FC 13
Tries: Taylor, Shaul
Goals: Sneyd (2)
Drop Goals: Sneyd
Wakefield 31
Tries: Huby, Tupou, Pauli, Johnstone
Goals: Hampshire (7)
Drop Goals: Miller
SQUADS
Hull FC: Shaul, Faraimo, Griffin, Tuimavave, Talanoa, Abdull, Sneyd, Taylor, Hougton, Paea, Lane, Washbrook, Manu
Interchanges: Green, Fash, Downs, Bienek
Wakefield Trinity: Jowitt, Jones-Bishop, Lyne, Tupou, Johnstone, Miller, Hampshire, England, Randell, Fifita, Horo, Ashurst, Annakin
Interchanges: Wood, Pauli, Arona, Huby
Referee: Jack Smith
