Hull FC beat Warrington as Manu Ma’u’s late winner keeps the Black and Whites in the play-off spots

It was another defeat for Daryl Powell’s Warrington side as they fell short against Hull FC who were desperately needing that win and a response from last weeks defeat to their nearest rivals Hull KR.

Warrington however, who have now lost four of their last five games in the league, find themselves in a bit of  trouble in eighth place when so many people tipped Warrington to be near the top end of the Betfred Super League challenging with the likes of Saints and Catalan.

In front of a crowd of around 11,000, it was quite a show with a bit of everything in store, yellow cards,  spectacular tries and most importantly in Rugby League, controversy .

There was a slow start for the opening 10 minutes, however after a yellow card for a professional foul from Warrington star, Ben Currie, the black and whites capitalised on the 12-men Warrington outfit and slick hand moving from Hull FC sent Jamie Shaul in at the corner with Luke Gale converting.

It didn’t take long for the Warrington side to hit back as they got a penalty on the half way line and quick thinking from hooker, Daryl Clark, as he took a quick tap and caught the Hull defence lacking as he went untouched and between the posts to get the response that Warrington needed. Stef Ratchford converted which put the Wolves back level.

Hull FC went back ahead as Luke Gale kept the Warrington defence on its toes and a gap opened up in the middle of the park as Gale just tipped the ball on t0 Brad Fash who got over for his first try since the last game of the 2018 season.

Warrington needed a try before half-time and they did just that after a high, hanging kick from Stefan Ratchford who is filling in at half-back for the absent George Williams, reached Matty Ashton who piled over for his first of the afternoon after showing what was great awareness from the young winger to stay in the field of play and saw the scores level at the interval.

There was an end-to-end start to the second half as both teams were proper going at it until the 70th minute when Warrington shifted the ball from right to left and a lovely bat down from promising youngster Josh Thewlis sent Matty Ashton in for his second of the night and send the away end wild.

After a six again call from Chris Kendall on Warrington’s 10 meter line, it was a prime opportunity for the black and whites to go over, and they did exactly that with Manu Ma’u crashing over from 5m out. Referee Chris Kendall sent the call up stairs as a try and the video referee couldn’t see that the ball was grounded, so he had to go with the on-field decision as a try and gets Hull FC the win they needed.

With the scores level four minutes from time, Luke Gale handles the pressure with ease as he converted perfectly to ultimately win the game for Hull FC in what was a much needed reaction from their previous performance and result with the Black and Whites winning by a score of 18-16 at the MKM Stadium.

Hull Try Scorers; Jamie Shaul (13)  Brad Fash (24)  Manu Ma’u (77)

Warrington Try Scorers; Daryl Clark (18) Matty Ashton (35,70)

Teams-

Hull FC-  Jake Connor, Jamie Shaul, Carlos Tuimavave, Connor Wynne, Darnell McIntosh, Joe Lovodua, Luke Gale, Ligi Sao,  Jordan Johnstone, Josh Bowden, Manu Ma’u, Jordan Lane, Brad Fash,

Subs – Chris Satae, Kane Evans, Jack Brown, Mitieli Vulikijapani.

Warrington- Josh Thewlis, Josh Charnley, Peter Mata’utia, Toby King, Matty Ashton, Gareth Widdop, Stefan Ratchford, Rob Mulhern, Daryl Clark, Mike Cooper, Ben Currie 12′, Jack Hughes, Jason Clark.

Subs – Joe Philbin, Joe Bullock, Danny Walker, Ellis Longstaff.

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