HALF TIME: Warrington Wolves 18 Hull 18 (From Warrington Guardian)

HALF TIME: Warrington Wolves 18 Hull 18

4:02pm Sunday 24th June 2012 in Wolves news

WARRINGTON Wolves and Hull FC go into the second half all square thanks to Danny Tickle’s penalty goal with the final kick of the first period.

Wolves, who went into the game without skipper Adrian Morley, had fought back from 10-0 and 16-6 deficits to go in front 18-16.

Hull, with a strong wind behind them and very fast off the mark in defence, struck first on the back of Wolves losing possession on their own 40-metre line.

The visitors counter-attacked quickly and Wolves were stretched for the next few tackles, with Willie Manu eventual putting Kirk Yeaman over with a basketball-style pass over the top of Joel Monaghan.

Danny Tickle was wide with the touchline conversion attempt but it was 4-0 after five minutes.

In the first set from the re-start, smart handling to the left set Tom Briscoe free down the left flank and as Stefan Ratchford came across to block his path the England wing man supplied Manu on his inside. This time Tickle hit the mark to make it 10-0.

The try per set continued but this time Wolves turned defence into attack on the back of Garreth Carvell charging down Brett Seymour’s clearance kick.

Ryan Atkins regathered the loose ball, danced out of Matty Russell’s attempted challenge and raced home from 30 metres. Gareth O’Brien’s extras cut the gap to four points with 12 minutes played.

Hull’s lying on tactics at the play-the-ball cost them a succession of penalties and they nearly paid for it when Joel Monaghan scorched over in the corner in the 20th minute but referee Ben Thaler brough play back for a forward pass from Chris Bridge.

Hull, on the back of a penalty for offside, went to the other end and restored their 10-point lead again.

Some sloppy defence left a gaping hole for Joe Westerman to gallop home from a pass supplied by a half-paced Richard Horne. Tickle made no mistake with the boot for 16-6 after 22 minutes.

Michael Monaghan replaced Micky Higham and immediately stamped his own brand of dummy-half play on the game as Wolves looked to disrupt the Hull defence and get on the front foot again.

Ben Currie arrived on the field just in time to see a great finish from Chris Riley as he put Wolves back on track.

He had three covering defenders to beat when Atkins fed him the ball but he backed his pace and strength to squeeze in at the corner from 20 metres. O’Brien’s extras left Wolves 16-12 behind after 33 minutes.

And then a lovely pinpoint long pass from O’Brien gave Atkins the space to speed home and level the scores in the 38th minute. The scrum half’s second success touchline conversion put Wolves ahead for the first time at 18-16.

A Tickle penalty goal in the seventh minute of added-on time left it all square for the break.

One unusual feature of the first half was Wolves’ selection changes on the bench.

Eighteenth man Matty Blythe was called in as a late replacement for Ben Currie, who suffered a ‘twinge’ during the warm-up, but the change was not made early enough according to the game’s rules.

Therefore, Currie took the spot as initially announced and figured in the back row in the final 14 minutes of the first half.

Wolves: Stefan Ratchford; Joel Monaghan, Chris Bridge, Ryan Atkins, Chris Riley; Lee Briers, Gareth O’Brien; Chris Hill, Micky Higham, Garreth Carvell, Trent Waterhouse, Mike Cooper, Ben Harrison. Subs: Michael Monaghan, Paul Wood, Tyrone McCarthy, Matty Blythe.

Hull: Matty Russell; Ben Crooks, Jordan Turner, Kirk Yeaman, Tom Briscoe; Richard Horne, Brett Seymour; Sam Moa, Richard Whiting, Andy Lynch, Willie Manu, Danny Tickle, Joe Westerman. Subs: Jay Pitts, Aaron Heremaia, Liam Kent, Martin Aspinwall.