It's all about the jostling for positions within the top four as second placed Hull FC welcomed fourth placed Wigan Warriors to the KCOM Stadium for tonight's tie of the round. Hull were keen on the two points in their quest for the minor premiership but Wigan needed them to keep their hopes of a home tie in the play-offs alive.
FC have won two of the three meeting so far this season but the last time that the two sides met in Hull it was the Warriors who took the points with a one point win.
The crucial Matty Smith was back for the Warriors after missing out in last weeks loss to the Vikings but Danny Washbrook was the only member of the cup winning side who missed out on selection for the Airlie Birds.
It had been a scrappy opening ten minutes with both sides making unforced errors. An Anthony Gelling intercept close to his own line saw him break towards half way and gain good field position before George Williams ripped through the FC defence to go thirty metres on the angle to score. Matty Smith missed the conversion attempt.
On the twentieth minute Fetuli Talanoa picked up a Marc Sneyd grubber kick to the corner to ground just before he slid into touch. Sneyd converted brilliantly from the touchline to edge his side ahead at 6-4.
Four minutes from the interval and Hull extended their lead. A Sneyd kick to the corner was caught by Steve Michaels and passed to Mahe Fonua to go outside the winger and score by the corner flag. This time Sneyd couldn't add the conversion but with seconds left on the clock the FC scrum half got hit high in the tackle and elected to kick a fifty-five metre penalty giving his side a 12-4 lead at the interval.
Hull has dominated the opening minutes of the second half but as clock ticked on to the sixty-fourth minute Sam Powell managed to ground the ball on the line, directly under the crossbar, to get Wigan right back in the game. Smith added the extras to reduce the arrears to two points.
The closer the game got to the final hooter the more it looked like Wigan would snatch it. On seventy-seven FC spilled the ball on their own twenty and two plays later Taulima Tautai pushed through the Hull defenders to ground one-handed on the line before being mobbed by his team-mates. Smith added the extras and the Warriors had a 16-12 lead.
A last minute Smith penalty extended the lead by two points as the final hooter sounded for a fantastic comeback win at 18-12, effectively ending Hull's hopes of the treble.
Elsewhere Warrington cruised victory over Widnes and are now three points clear at the top of the pile and look nailed on as minor premiers. Wigan are now level on points with second placed Hull, but trailing heavily on points difference.
FC: Shaul, Michaels, Fonua (T), Yeaman, Talanoa (T), Tuimavave, Sneyd (2G), Taylor, Houghton, Watts, Manu, Minichiello, Ellis. Subs: Green, Hadley, Bowden, Pritchard.
Warriors: Tomkins, Charnley, Gelling, Sarginson, Tierney, Williams (T), Smith (3G), Nuuausala, Powell (T), Flower, Bateman, Farrell, Isa. Subs: Crosby, Tautai (T), Sutton, Shorrocks.
Referee: Ben Thaler.
Attendance: 11,686
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