Warrington 22-22 Hull: Wolves stop rot with draw

Match Stats: Warrington 22-22 Hull

Warrington tries: Russell (14, 39, 64), Clark (55)
Conversions/Penalties: Gidley (55, 64, 71) 

Hull tries: Kelly (9), Connor (25), Shaul (35)
Conversions/Penalties: Sneyd (9, 25, 31, 35, 50) 

Match Report: Wolves stop rot with draw

Winger Matty Russell grabbed a hat-trick of tries as Warrington staged a tremendous second-half fightback to earn their first point of the Betfred Super League season against Hull.

The Wolves, who began last season with seven straight wins, look destined to open up with a seventh straight defeat when they trailed 20-4 early in the second half.

But they turned the game on its head with a rousing comeback to draw 22-22 after both teams missed a flurry of drop-goal attempts in a frantic finish.

Hull, who ended Warrington's winning run 12 months ago, will be kicking themselves for not competing a fifth consecutive win as they capitulated in the second half for the second week in a row.

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Lee Radford's men were 22-0 up at Wigan a week earlier and ended up having to cling on for a 22-20 victory and they could not have complained had Wolves snatched victory at the end.

Hull, who gave a debut to young hooker Jez Litten in the absence of Man of Steel Danny Houghton, were dominant from the start, earning themselves three consecutive sets of tackles in the Warrington half and the pressure told when in-form stand-off Albert Kelly forced his way over for his eighth try in his last five matches.

Marc Sneyd kicked the first of his five goals to make it 6-0 and Kelly went close to pulling off an interception as the Wolves began shakily, demonstrating their shortage of confidence after making their worst start to a Super League campaign.

Russell produced a powerful finish to score his first try on 13 minutes but the Hull twice punished wayward passing to establish a comfortable lead by half-time.

Centre Jake Connor intercepted a Kevin Brown pass to go 90 metres for a try and full-back Jamie Shaul added another long-range effort after Stefan Ratchford dropped a rash pass from Jack Hughes.

Dead-eyed marksman Sneyd converted all three tries and kicked a penalty as the visitors led 20-4 before conceding a second try to Russell a minute before the break.

The Wolves thought they had scored again early in the second half but winger Rhys Evans' try was disallowed for a forward pass and Sneyd increased his side's lead with a second penalty.

Hooker Daryl Clark began the Warrington fightback when he forced his way over his side's third try on 54 minutes, shortly after re-entering the action following a rest, and Kurt Gidley's first goal from three attempts cut the deficit to eight points.

And it was down to just two on 64 minutes when Russell came up with another brilliant finish to complete his hat-trick, with Gidley converting from the touchline.

Warrington thought they had taken the lead when England prop Mike Cooper stretched out for the line only to lose control of the ball but they at least drew level with a Gidley penalty 10 minutes from the end.

Ratchford was then narrowly wide with a long-range drop-goal attempt before Sneyd was similarly off target at the other end.

As the tension mounted, Gidley fluffed the easiest drop-goal chance and Sneyd failed with another ambitious effort as the game ended in dramatic stalemate.

Match Reaction

Hull coach Lee Radford on Warrington's comeback: "At the end it was a point gained. It was a really bizarre game. I was over the moon with the lead we built up, but in the second period we very much went in to our our shells and end up hanging on for dear life.

"It was very similar to last week and we're going to have to address that really sharp. We can't build a lead up and hand it back to the opposition.

"We expected a desperate Warrington and they didn't disappoint. We've only lost once this year and we're not playing particularly great. I just hope we start playing great soon. We looked flat."

Warrington coach Tony Smith on decisions which cost Mike Cooper a late try and when Daryl Clark had the ball stolen from two opponents in an offside position: "It was an absolute penalty. But I've got to be happy about our second half.

"There was a lot of improvement, in the second half in particular. In the first half we were still way too guilty of self-inflicted harm. I thought Hull were a bit flat today and we let them off the hook in the first half - we gave them most of their points, either through penalties or intercepts.

"I said we just needed to be pretty strong and basic today to get a decent result and I wasn't far wrong. The boys are working hard and competing and they've got desire and unity. We've still got a few rough edges got to knock off and, when we do that, we will be getting the two points and not the one.

"I've got to single out three of my players. Matty Russell was back to some of his best and not just with his finishing because he was a handful with the ball, Benny Westwood played himself to a standstill and Ryan Atkins was enormous."