Wakefield cruise past Hull FC to go fourth

Betfred Super League

Hull FC (0) 10

Tries: Briscoe, Litten Goals: Sezer

Wakefield (24) 36

Tries: Johnstone 2, Nikotemo 2, McMeeken, Tevaga Goals: Jowitt 6

Wakefield Trinity cruised past Hull FC with a 36-10 victory at the MKM Stadium to make it four wins from five and leapfrog Wigan Warriors up to fourth in Super League.

Two early tries from Tom Johnstone put the visitors in control and further scores by Seth Nikotemo, as well as Mike McMeeken’s first of the season – added to by the reliable boot of Max Jowitt – meant Trinity had a 24-point lead at half-time.

Veteran winger Tom Briscoe, now in his 19th season as a professional player, scored and later assisted Davy Litten for Hull FC in the second-half as the hosts marginally improved after the break with two tries.

The Black and Whites however, who had two men sent to the sin-bin, stay ninth and conceded twice late on to Jazz Tevaga and a second from Nikotemo.

It was a poignant evening for both clubs following the funeral of former Hull and Wakefield head coach John Kear which took place in Penistone earlier in the day.

Jack Sinfield’s high, hanging kick to the left corner was collected brilliantly by Johnstone, who towered over opposing winger Harvey Barron, to dot down for an early score.

On his 150th Super League appearance, former Hull stand-off Jake Trueman’s superb cut-out pass found Johnstone who darted inside from the left to claim his second on the quarter-hour mark.

And things went from bad to worse for the hosts when Herman Ese’ese’s frustrations got the better of him as he was sent to the sin-bin for a needless challenge on the back of try-scorer Johnstone’s head deep into Trinity territory.

Nikotemo then crossed over for Wakefield’s third while Hull were down to 12 men, just managing to stay in touch, as Jowitt notched the easy extras.

Veteran second row McMeeken added to the scoreline in the corner soon after, assisted by a fabulous improvised offload from Isaiah Vagana, and after Jowitt added the extras once more, Hull were booed off by some portions of the home faithful at the break.

Briscoe’s excellent finish seven minutes into the second-half put the hosts on the board, as the 36-year-old turned on the afterburners to sprint past Josh Rourke and dive over in the left corner.

Briscoe was at the heart of things again, blistering past Rourke once more, to find Litten on his inside to claim Hull’s second on the hour mark and after Aidan Sezer slotted the extras, the hosts threatened a fightback.

But those hopes were effectively extinguished when Jeremiah Mata’utia became the second Hull player to go into the bin for late contact, and Tevaga eventually made the extra man pay, crashing over from dummy half with six minutes remaining.

Nikotemo then added further gloss to the score with just seconds remaining, diving over from close range, while Jowitt completed a perfect night with the boot, adding his sixth conversion of the night.

‘They were ruthless’ – reaction

Hull FC’s interim head coach Andy Last told BBC Radio Humberside:

“A game of two halves. First half, I wasn’t happy with the way the team performed. Defensively, they just rolled us up the field far too easily.

“Unfortunately, we lose Herman [Ese’ese] for 10 minutes and they were ruthless in that period and scored tries.

“The second half was far better. I thought we were really spirited in that second half, and didn’t let the scoreboard run away from us but there’s certainly things that we need to do better.”

Wakefield Trinity coach Daryl Powell told BBC Radio Leeds:

“Just pleased to get the win, we needed to respond to what happened to us last week [a 48-10 defeat by Wigan]. First half I thought we probably left a couple tries on the field – but we did a lot to build on.

On Herman Ese’ese’s sin-bin: “I think it’s a sin-binning to be honest. A couple of cuffs round the back of the head. I don’t think they were pivotal [to the outcome of the match]. I thought the first half was a pretty dominant performance by us.

“It was pretty warm – it’s not ridiculously oppressive, I’ve played in Papua New Guinea – but it’s pretty close and humid so that will have been difficult for both teams.”

Hull FC: Moy; Barron, O’Neill, Litten, Briscoe; Arthur, Sezer; Mata’utia, Bourouh, Hill, Batchelor, Cartwright, Kirby.

Interchanges: Ese’ese, Salabio, Hutchinson, Wood.

Sin-bin: Ese’ese (27), Mata’utia (68).

Wakefield: Jowitt; Johnstone, Pitts, Scott, Rourke; Trueman, Sinfield; McMeeken, Smoothy, Rodwell, Nikotemo, Vagana, Tevaga.

Interchanges: Hamlin-Uele, Faatili, Smith, McGann.

Referee: Aaron Moore.

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