Super League: Wakefield Trinity move one step closer to safety with scrappy win over Hull FC
Lewis Murphy crossed the whitewash three times for the visitors; Lee Kershaw and Liam Hood rounded off the scoring for Wakefield; Late tries from Chris Satae and Ellis Longstaff proved too little too late for Hull
Last Updated: 19/08/22 11:07pm
A hat-trick for Lewis Murphy helped Wakefield secured a scrappy but vital 26-18 victory over Hull FC to move one step closer to ensuring Super League survival.
It was a performance full of desperation, and in the end they simply had too much for the Black and Whites, who were left picking over the bones of another toothless display which has put another huge dent into their faint hopes of making the play-offs this year.
This was a fifth defeat in their last six games for Brett Hodgson's men and their fourth consecutive home loss.
The home side have struggled for any form of consistency in their line-up, with another spine combination really struggling to fire a shot in the face of some robust Trinity defence, which stood firm for the majority of the evening.
Two late tries reduced the deficit to just eight points but it proved too little too late for the Black and Whites with relegation-battling Wakefield walking away with the spoils to all but secure their Super League safety for 2023.
Story of the match
It was Trinity who struck first through Murphy, who dived over acrobatically in the left corner, and they soon doubled their tally down the other flank through Lee Kershaw to make it a 12-point advantage.
Hull found some energy and hit back through Ben McNamara, who dived on a loose ball to cut the gap to six, but Wakefield would have the final say of the first half thanks to Murphy.
The youngster grabbed his second try of the night after a high kick ricocheted fortuitously off Lee Gaskell's head in the build up to give the visitors a 10-point lead at the break.
Wakefield made a flying start to the second half, scoring through Liam Hood following a lovely offload from Corey Hall in the in-goal, before Murphy grabbed his third, mopping up a loose ball from Gaskell after an unforced error from
Hull.
The Wakefield flyer almost grabbed a fourth try but was ruled to have lost the ball by the video referee and from there the home side rallied, scoring two consolation tries through Ellis Longstaff and Chris Satae.
Score Summary: Hull FC 18-26 Wakefield Trinity:
Hull FC: Tries; Ben McNamara, Ellis Longstaff, Chris Satae; Conversions: Luke Gale (3)
Wakefield Trinity: Tries: Lewis Murphy (3), Lee Kershaw, Liam Hood; Conversions: Mason Lino (3)
What they said:
Wakefield Trinity head coach Willie Poching said: "I was really pleased with our defence tonight.
"I think we showed up and showed out in how we wanted to defend.
"In the second half down their end we had it in patches.
"Hopefully Thursday we can (start celebrating).
"But we can't get too ahead of ourselves and we have to perform here."
Hull FC head coach Brett Hodgson said: "There are the bits of luck that are going against us at the moment.
"There are other times when we are our own worst enemy on the skill level and fatigue we are not executing.
"But we will have to keep fighting, we have got three games left and we want to finish the season well."
What's next?
Wakefield are next in action on Thursday August 25 as they face Hull KR with kick off at 7.30pm. On the same day, Hull FC have a visit to the Salford Red Devils kicking off slight later at 7.45pm.
