Super 8s: Hull FC 22-30 Wigan Warriors

Tom Davies was a late call-up and he made his presence felt with a try for Wigan

Wigan Warriors boosted their Super League play-off hopes with a late flurry of scores at the expense of Hull FC, who had Liam Watts sent off.

Watts' dismissal for an elbow on Michael McIlorum came in a spiteful first half which saw a try apiece, but Wigan held a slender advantage.

Anthony Gelling and Tom Davies tries added to the lead, but Hull roared back as Sika Manu and Marc Sneyd crossed.

However, Gelling and John Bateman both scored late on to settle a thriller.

The sending-off saw McIlorum withdrawn with a head knock and a repeat of a severe mouth injury he picked up against St Helens last week.

It was only 13 days earlier that Wigan were beaten by the Airlie Birds in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley, but this success lifts them to third in Super League, leapfrogging their now fourth-placed opponents in the process.

There was plenty of edge as tackles flew in throughout, as well as some sumptuous play, but it was the character that both teams produced which made this such a compelling encounter.

Wigan, who brought scoring winger Davies in as a last minute call-up after Joe Burgess' withdrawal, had to find their second wind for the final 10 minutes to win it, quelling 12-man Hull after their own spirited fightback from 20-6 down while a player short.

Hull's disappointment will be tempered by the return of skipper Gareth Ellis and Steve Michaels from suspension for forthcoming games, as well as the hopeful prospect of Carlos Tuimavave returning after an ankle problem.

Hull FC head coach Lee Radford: "I disagree with all three of them [Watts' red cards in 2017]. He's a front rower who plays right on the edge, he's got the right amount of wrong in him.

"I think he was carrying the ball in his torso and the defender got his head in the wrong place. I'm pretty confident he'll get sending-off sufficient but that doesn't help us tonight.

"I'm disappointed with the result but the effort to a man was phenomenal. To push them as close as we did with 12 men - and we could quite easily have got the result - is a credit to the squad."

Wigan head coach Shaun Wane: "I don't think Liam Watts is a nasty player but it was tough for the referee not to do anything else.

"I'm a little bit disappointed. We got out of jail a bit. I didn't like how we played, compared to last week. We were not consistent enough against a team who were desperate, being a man down. Their points of contact in defence were better than ours.

"I thought they reacted better to the sending-off than we did. It was a slow cumbersome game and we couldn't get any tempo. But I thought we got what we deserved out of it. It's two points and we've eight wins out of 10 which is good, although nowhere near the performance of last week. I think that took a bit out of us."

Hull FC: Shaul; Griffin, Fonua, Connor, Thompson; Kelly, Sneyd; Taylor, Houghton, Bowden, Minichiello, Manu, Watts.

Replacements: Washbrook, Turgut, Fash, Matongo.

Wigan Warriors: Tomkins; Davies, Gelling, Gildart, Marshall; Williams, Leuluai; Nuuausala, McIlorum, Clubb, Bateman, Farrell, O'Loughlin.

Replacements: Powell, Tautai, Sutton, Isa.

Referee: Robert Hicks