WOLVES continue to make life difficult for themselves and a second comeback was too much of an ask at the KCOM Stadium.

When The Wire trailed 22-8 with 25 minutes remaining at home to Hull on April 1 they somehow rescued their first point of the season and started a sequence of five unbeaten matches.

And in Round 11 they got out of jail as Tom Lineham’s try two minutes from time handed Tony Smith’s men an unlikely victory over Wakefield after having trailed 20-6 at the 55th-minute mark.

Wolves, who welcomed back Matty Russell and Mike Cooper but were still missing Daryl Clark, found themselves in a similar situation again on Friday, 22-10 adrift with 25 minutes remaining having already fought back to within two points from being 12-0 down in the opening period.

But a bustling try from dangerman Albert Kelly on the back of a smart 40/20 from Marc Sneyd ensured there would be no late heroics from Warrington on this occasion.

Wolves, with Kurt Gidley starting at hooker for the first time, had little fuel left in the tank for another dramatic finale, having spent too long defending in the third quarter.

A slow start, a poor kicking game, an 8-2 penalty count against them, taking some poor options and losing star performer Joe Westerman to injury at the back end of the first half did not lend to the cause being helped.

At 12-10, Wolves did not make the most of Sika Manu’s time in the sin bin.

Miscommunication on the left, not for the first time in this game, led to an overlap not being taken as Dec Patton went alone and was held inches short of the line.

And when Jack Hughes had a 41st-minute try ruled out for obstruction after a wonder 80-metre kick-off return from Joe Philbin it seemed that Wolves may pay the price.

That proved to be the case as Hull, missing skipper Gareth Ellis and reigning Man of Steel Danny Houghton, dominated possession, outnumbering Wolves’ sets by two to one in the third quarter which took its toll.

All five Hull tries came on Wolves’ left, where Benjamin Jullien, Patton, Atkins and Tom Lineham were not able to contain the dangerous combination of Kelly, Manu, Jake Connor and Mahe Fonua.

INTERESTING NOTES:

. Only the second loss at Hull FC during Tony Smith’s reign.


. Only Wigan have scored more points than Hull in a game against The Wire this year.


.Lowest KCOM Stadium crowd of season so far

MATCH FACTS:

Super League Round 12, Friday, April 28, 2017

Hull FC...34 Warrington Wolves...10

Hull: Jamie Shaul; Mahe Fonua, Jake Connor, Carlos Tuimavave, Steve Michaels; Albert Kelly, Marc Sneyd; Scott Taylor, Danny Washbrook, Chris Green, Sika Manu, Mark Minichiello, Jordan Thompson. Subs: Jack Downs, Jansin Turgut, Josh Griffin, Brad Fash.
Wolves: Stefan Ratchford; Matty Russell, Rhys Evans, Ryan Atkins, Tom Lineham; Kevin Brown, Dec Patton, Chris Hill, Kurt Gidley, Ashton Sims, Benjamin Jullien, Jack Hughes, Joe Westerman. Subs: Mike Cooper, Brad Dwyer, Andre Savelio, Joe Philbin.

Scoring: Connor try, 4mins, Sneyd goal, 6-0; Fonua try, 11mins, Sneyd goal, 12-0; Russell try, 16mins, 12-4; Westerman try, 22mins, Patton goal, 12-10; Sneyd penalty goal, 34mins, 14-10; Shaul try, 48mins, Sneyd goal, 20-10; Sneyd penalty goal, 53mins, 22-10; Kelly try, 55mins, Sneyd goal, 28-10; Kelly try, 74mins, Sneyd goal, 34-10.

Penalties: Hull FC 8 Wolves 7
Sin bin: Manu, 21mins (undue pressure applied in tackle)
Referee: James Child
Attendance: 10,734
Man of the match (live blog fans’ poll): Stefan Ratchford