Fifth placed Hull FC had a chance to return to the top four when they welcomed sixth placed Wigan Warriors to the KCOM Stadium for a Saturday tea-time kick-off.

Both sides came into the game low on confidence after defeats in their last two outings. FC recorded a narrow two point win when the sides met at the DW Stadium at the end of March, holding on after leading 18-0 at the interval. The win today was crucial for both sides top four aspirations.

Both sides are suffering with long injury lists. Hull were without a number of key players including influential half-back and kicker Marc Sneyd while the Warriors were without skipper Sean O'Loughlin, a late withdrawal due to a hamstring problem.

Early Wigan wobbles gave Hull FC the opening in the third minute. A Thomas Leuluai lost ball from a kick through gave the Black and Whites the position and Danny Houghton put Steve Michaels free to go over in the right corner. Jake Connor failed to add the extras from wide.

After a head clash on six, Leuluai was assisted from the field, compounding Wigan’s woes.

On twelve, FC got their second when a Nick Rawsthorne knock-back from a high kick was picked up by Carlos Tuimavave enabling him to weave past the defenders and ground wide left. Connor was again off the mark with the kick, but after Lewis Tierney had lunged with the boot during the act of scoring, he took the chance of the penalty for and eight-point try and slotted over the two for 10-0.

Just a quarter of the game had gone when Hull went in for their third, again in the guise of Michaels who took a long and looping pass from Houghton to go in on the overlap and improve the angle. Connor kicked the goal for 16-0.

A twenty-third minute penalty from Connor further extended the lead.

It was becoming embarrassing for Wigan when Hull went in for their fourth try on twenty-eight when a Danny Washbrook weaving run and offload found Houghton to go over under the sticks. Liam Farrell protested too vociferously to referee Bentham and was sent to the bin for a ten minute rest. Connor kicked the extra two.

Four minutes from the interval Joe Burgess looked to have gone the length of the field to score but he was hauled down just short of the line by a covering Mark Minichiello. A quick play the ball saw the ball moved right and Tom Davies went over on the overlap. Liam Marshall failed to add the conversion.

After interference at the play-the-ball, which looked more Willie Isa practicing his Judo throws, Connor kicked the resulting penalty for a 26-4 lead, on the back of an 8-0 penalty count in the Airlie Birds favour.

Within two minutes of the kick-off the Warriors were put on a team warning for repeated penalties.

Liam Marshall scored a try for the visitors on forty-three when he showed great speed in sprinting down the left wing after taking a George Williams pass. Williams failed to add the conversion from wide.

The Wigan fightback contined on fifty-five with a spectacular try. The ball was kept alive through a dozen pairs of hands before Liam Farrell took an offload to go under the sticks. Liam Marshall kicked the conversion for 26-14, Wigan just two converted tries behind in a game which looked beyond them in the first half.

Hull responded on fifty-nine with their own spectacular try through Jamie Shaul who picked up his own chip through to ground one-handed a split second before going into touch. With Connor off the field, Rawsthorpe kicked the extras from the touchline for 32-14.

The win was put beyond doubt on sixty-six when Albert Kelly picked up a Joel Tomkins grubber on his own ten and went ninety metres down the centre of the field for a superb score. Rawsthorne converted from in front of the sticks.

Ten from the end of the game Joe Burgess picked up a Williams grubber for a walk in try. Marshall couldn’t add the extra two and Hull led by 38-18.

A Kelly one-pointer on seventy-four made the lead twenty-one points but on thirty-five Marshall went from acting half-back to dive over. He failed to add the conversion. Davies scored his second in the dying seconds for Wigan’s sixth try of the evening but once again Williams could not convert for a final score of 39-26.

Both sides scored six tries but Wigan hadn’t brought their kicking boots with them having only managed to convert one of their four-pointers.

This was the first Super League win for Hull since May 7th and lifts them back above Wakefield Trinity into fourth in the table. The Wigan crisis continues to deepen with yet another loss seeing the five points off the top four spots. All credit to Hull, they sprinted into a lead and managed to hold onto it for a crucial two points.

FC: Shaul (T), Michaels (2T), Talanoa, Tuimavave (T), Rawsthorne (2G), Kelly (T, DG), Conner (5G), Green, Houghton (T), Thompson, Washbrook, Minichiello, Manu. Subs: Fash, Downs, Turgut, Matongo.

Warriors: Tierney, Davies (2T), Forsyth, Burgess (T), Marshall (2T, G), Williams, Leuluai, Nuuausala, McIlorum, Sutton, Wells, Farrell (T, SB), Isa. Subs: Field, Powell, Tautai, Tomkins.

Referee: Phil Bentham.

Half-Time: 26-4.

Full-Time: 39-26.

Attendance: 10,333.