Warrington stun Hull with storming second-half comeback

By the end this felt like a night where there were grounds for optimism in both camps, despite the slightly lop-sided result. For Warrington there was the satisfaction not only of an instant return to winning ways but of a second-half performance which solidified their position inside Super League’s play-off places.

With the side trailing 12-0 at half-time questions might have been asked of Steve Price and his side as they appeared destined for a second consecutive defeat. A run then of 30 points answered many of those questions but what prompted such a dramatic turnaround will not appear in too many coaching manuals.

“I read them a poem by Ebenezer Elliott,” Price said. “I can’t say what sort it was. It was something different. It was a one-off.” Whatever it was, it certainly worked and, with results elsewhere, it ensured the Wolves strengthened their grip on third, as well as moving to within two points of second-placed Wigan following their defeat at Hull place.

As for Hull, though they were eventually well beaten as their inexperience told after half-time, this still felt like a night to be optimistic about their season moving forward. “I thought in the first 40 we played as well as we could have but unfortunately in the second half we just ran out of gas,” their coach, Lee Radford, said.

It was hard to disagree with his assessment. Few could argue with the 12-point half-time lead Hull amassed through tries by Dean Hadley and Mickey Paea – and all this with almost a dozen first-team regulars absent. Things could get worse before they get better too; Jake Connor, Hull’s lynchpin of recent weeks, left the field here with a hamstring injury.

With a Challenge Cup quarter-final against St Helens next Sunday, that is far from opportune timing. Price’s attempts at becoming Warrington’s first poet laureate certainly did the trick in regards to his own side, though; and by the hour mark they had forged into a lead that Hull’s young, tiring side were unable to overturn.

Tries by the ever impressive Harvey Livett and Kevin Brown levelled the scores before Ben Murdoch-Masila put the hosts ahead, with Livett converting all three scores. He was also on target twice more in the final quarter, adding the extras to the tries scored by Josh Charnley and Ryan Atkins to ensure Warrington’s latest victory.