Marc Sneyd’s 83rd minute drop goal gets Hull’s first win of the season.
MATCH DETAILS
Hull run out victorious in the first Super League match to go to golden point. The victory ends a run of 13 straight defeats in the Super League, a run that stretched back to June 2018.
The Black and Whites came into the contest on a very poor run of form and had lost all four meetings with Wigan since the Challenge Cup final in 2017 and the run looked like it may continue when Oliver Gildart gave the Warriors the lead inside 10 minutes.
A try from Carlos Tuimavave narrowed the gap to two points and on the 20 minute mark, Hull led for the first time. Joe Westerman’s dummy fooled the Wigan defence as he was allowed to stroll in underneath the sticks.
One of the big talking points in this fixture was the return of Gareth Ellis and within two minutes of him coming on, Hull struck again. Debutant Ratu Naulago scored after a good pass from half-back Jake Connor giving Hull a 16-6 advantage.
Before half time, Wigan hit back after Sam Powell’s grubber found Liam Byrne, who dived on the loose ball to also give him a try on his Super League debut.
Taulima Tautai was sent to the sin bin just before the break after a high shot on Jordan Thompson, as Hull went in 16-12 in front.
Hull started the second half strong and capitalised on the sin binning of Tautai. Naulago got his second of the afternoon after Hull opted to go down the short side.
Wigan refused to give up and narrowed the gap back to four when Ben Flower crossed with 15 minutes remaining.
Gildart got his second try of the match in the final minute, leaving Zak Hardaker with the opportunity to win the match. His conversion attempt missed, which meant the match went into golden point.
The Black and Whites got a penalty, which allowed them into the Wigan half and Marc Sneyd took the opportunity as his drop goal ended Hull’s poor run and got them their first win of 2019.
FOUR POINTERS
Golden point
During the off-season, new rules were implemented and one of these was Golden point. This was the first time it’s happened this season. A lot of people would argue it’s better to keep it how it was as Wigan got no reward for their late fightback.
Debut double
Ratu Naulago only signed his one year deal on Friday and two days later, he scored twice in the victory. The Fijian impressed on trial with the club, scoring five tries in four matches and he didn’t look out of place on his first Super League start. Clearly a player who will be useful for Hull.
Return of Gareth Ellis
After naming himself to play in a reserve match last week, a few eyebrows were raised and the 37-year old seemed to help the side to their first win. After retiring back in 2017, he has since worked for the club and will now be contemplating to return to his job or extend his playing career after making his 100th appearance for Hull.
Wigan easier fixtures coming up
Wigan find themselves in a unusual situation sat on zero points from their opening three fixtures. However, they should be rising up the table soon with a trip to London next week followed by a home fixture against Huddersfield. Adrian Lam’s side will be looking to get into the top five come the end of the season.
THE RESULT
Wigan Warriors 22
Tries: Gildart (2), Byrne, Flower
Goals: Hardaker (3)
Drop Goals:ย n/a
Hull FC 23
Tries: Tuimavave, Westerman, Naulago (2)
Goals: Sneyd (3)
Drop Goals:ย Sneyd
SQUADS
Wigan Warriors:ย Hardaker, Davies, Sarginson, Gildart, Marshall, Williams, Leuluai, Bullock, Powell, Flower, Greenwood, Isa, O’Loughlin.
Interchanges: Tautai, Byrne, Hamlin, Sammut.
Hull FC: Shaul, Naulago, Griffin, Tuimavave, Faraimo, Connor, Sneyd, Paea, Houghton, Matongo, Minichiello, S Manu, Westerman.
Interchanges: Ellis, Lane, Litten, Thompson.
