Wakefield Trinity 26-27 Hull FC: Marc Sneyd provides golden touch with winning drop goal for visitors
Last Updated: 06/03/20 10:40pm
Marc Sneyd kicked a drop goal in golden-point extra-time to end Hull FC's three-match losing run with a 27-26 success at Wakefield Trinity in Super League on Friday.
The Black and Whites frittered away an 18-point lead in their last match against Catalans Dragons and went desperately close to repeating that against a spirited Trinity.
The visitors led 20-6 at half-time after a dominant first half but failed to press home their advantage, and Wakefield winger Tom Johnstone produced acrobatic finishes to score two tries in the last 11 minutes to tie the scores.
Max Jowitt struck an upright with one conversion attempt and was wide with the other as the game finished 26-26 after 80 minutes.
Sneyd was the hero of the first Super League game to go to golden point, when he won it for his side at Wigan Warriors last February and he once again came up with the winning score.
The outcome was tough on Wakefield, who scored five tries to four but ultimately paid the price for a sloppy first half.
Trinity had made the perfect start to the match, taking advantage of Hull winger Mahe Fonua's knock-on 30 metres out from his own line to open the scoring.
Johnstone palmed the ball back from Jacob Miller's high kick to his centre Ryan Atkins, who kicked ahead and won the race to touch down on his 100th game for the club. Jowitt added the conversion to make it 6-0, but from then on Hull dominated the rest of the first half.
Fonua made up for his earlier fumble by crashing over for an equalising try before sliding through a kick for full-back Jamie Shaul to touch down.
Sneyd converted both to give his side a 12-6 lead, and a break out of his own half by Shaul created the position for winger Kieran Buchanan to go over for Hull's third try on 22 minutes.
Sneyd was off target with the conversion attempt but was on target with two penalties in the last six minutes of the half to give his side a 14-point cushion at the break.
A rare error from Shaul on his own 20-metre line handed Trinity an ideal attacking position early in the second half and second rower Jay Pitts made the most of it by forcing his way over for his side's second try.
Jowitt's second goal cut Hull's lead to 20-12, and the gap was down to just two points six minutes later when Atkins cut a superb line to take a neat pass from full-back Alex Walker, making his home debut, to score his second try.
The Black and Whites were wobbling at that stage but Great Britain second rower Josh Jones steadied their nerves with a determined run at the Wakefield line before offloading for stand-off Albert Kelly to score.
Sneyd's fifth goal re-established his side's eight-point advantage, but winger Johnstone kept Wakefield alive with 11 minutes left when he took Atkins' pass and produced an acrobatic dive to score their fourth try.
And the flying Johnstone produced a repeat four minutes later to tie the scores, only for the home side to be denied by the boot of Sneyd in extra time.