Vikings put Leigh to sword
RUGBY LEAGUE
TONY SMITH hailed his “enormous trio” after watching Warrington battle back to earn their first point of the season.
The Wolves looked set for a seventh straight Super League defeat when they trailed Hull FC 20-4 late in the first half, having conceded two longrange breakaway tries.
But with winger Matty Russell scoring a superb hat-trick, they eventually drew level in the pulsating closing stages.
Both sides missed opportunities to take full points with late drop-goal efforts, but a share of the spoils at least gives boss Smith (right) and his squad something to work with.
He said: “When we were making those errors on the first and second tackles, of course you start to think it might not be your day again. In the first half we were still way too guilty of self-inflicted harm. But there was a real determination there today.
“I’d like to single out three players who were enormous for us.
“Matty Russell is back to some of his best and not just with his finishing – he was always a handful with the ball.
Unhappy
“Ben Westwood was unreal for us and then there was Ryan Atkins, who we thought was going to be out for four weeks.”
Smith said referee Jack Smith “had a very good game overall”.
But he was unhappy with two key decisions – a disallowed Mike Cooper try and a Daryl Clark scoot that he felt should have earned a penalty in the final quarter.
There was little sign of the drama that would unfold when Hull built a 16-point lead, albeit on the back of two major Warrington mistakes.
The visitors opened the scoring with the latest virtuoso effort from Albert Kelly’s highlights reel, his eighth try in five games.
Warrington responded through Russell, but the Black and Whites then s c ored t wo quick breakaway efforts.
Jake Connor picked off a Kevin Brown pass and raced the full length to cross, before Sika Manu swooped on a Stefan Ratchford fumble and sent Jamie Shaul on the same route to the line. The Wolves threw themselves a lifeline with Russell’s second try before the break.
And although Marc Sneyd made it 22-8 with a 49th-minute penalty, the rest of the game belonged to the hungry home side.
They laid siege to the visitors’ line, with Clark forcing his way over on the last tackle before Russell completed his hat- t r i ck with a t hird outstanding finish.
Kurt Gidley added the touchline conversion and then a penalty to draw the teams level.
Hull boss Lee Radford said: “It was a point gained.
“I was over the moon with the lead we built after 39 minutes, but in the second period we very much went into our shell.
“We played one-up rugby and ended up hanging on for our dear life.”