Hull FC stun Wigan to boost play-off hopes

Hull FC were 20-0 up at half-time against Wigan

Betfred Super League

Wigan (0) 12

Tries: Wade, Havard Goals: Smith 2

Hull FC (20) 32

Tries: Cartwright 2, Sezer, Rapana, Ashworth Goals: Charles 6

Hull FC shook up the Super League play-off picture with a superb win over reigning champions Wigan Warriors at the Brick Community Stadium.

The Black and Whites left Matt Peet's side stunned with a utterly dominant first-half display which saw them lead with 20 unanswered points.

And they returned after the break to show it had been no fluke adding two more tries to complete an impressive success that lifted them to sixth in the table.

While second-placed Wigan were below their usual high standards, Hull FC produced their best performance of the season, plotting a tactical masterclass to target the home side's vulnerability under the high ball.

Winger Christian Wade produced a superb solo effort to open Wigan's account in the second half, but on three occasions either side of the break his handling mistakes in trying to catch high kicks led to Hull tries.

Defeat for the Warriors was their fifth reverse of the season and handed Hull KR the chance to go four points clear at the top should they beat Catalans later on Saturday.

Wigan almost made the ideal start when Zach Eckersley looked sure to touch down in the corner after four minutes, but his failure to ground the ball perhaps suggested this might not be a routine 80 minutes.

When the centre was helped off after suffering a potentially serious lower leg injury shortly after, the cards started to fall ominously for the home side.

Sure enough Hull FC took the lead and the manner of their opening try was to provide a template for how they dismantled their hosts throughout the afternoon.

Wade may be devastating going forward as he later proved, but Aidan Sezer had quickly worked out he was vulnerable under the high ball and his chip on the fifth tackle was fumbled by Wade and finished off by Jed Cartwright.

Jack Charles had added the extras, the first of six from six on an afternoon where his kicking proved flawless.

A Kaide Ellis fumble 30 metres out was the next mistake from Wigan gifting excellent field position which a Sezer line break and offload gifted Cartwright a second on 23 minutes.

Sezer then produced a superbly angled cut through to go under the posts himself just after the 30-minute mark. A penalty from Charles just before the half-time hooter saw the Black and Whites go in 20-0 up.

If there were harsh words from Wigan's Peet at half-time the pep talk from his Hull counterpart John Cartwright proved no less effective.

Wade's superb rubber-ball run down the left, the winger's balance and dancing feet taking him over the line on 54 minutes suggested Wigan might make a game of it closing the score to 20-6.

But after Jai Field was forced from the field after hitting his head on the turf - subsequently failing a head injury assessment which rules him out of next week's clash with Catalan Dragons - Hull FC gradually reasserted their grip.

Harvey Barron should have converted in the right corner on 64 minutes but was tackled out of play behind the try-line but another Wade fumble under a high kick from Charles was finished off by Jordan Rapana.

Wigan's Ethan Havard, with added extras from Harry Smith, once again closed the gap to 26-12, but Jack Ashworth put the icing on a brilliant performance with a late try to extend the lead back up to 20 close to the hooter.

It was a second win over Wigan for Hull FC this season following victory in the Challenge Cup in March, but Cartwright will now have to focus on home form which has been their Achilles heel this season.

They have just one home win, against Wakefield Trinity last weekend, but after this confidence booster they host Super League's bottom two in Huddersfield Giants and Salford Red Devils.

Wigan coach Matt Peet:

"Christian Wade came to me straight away on the field and said sorry to the team for making a few errors, but I understand that these things happen, and it was my decision to select him.

"I'd seen enough in practice and last week to think we would take a step in the right direction, but credit to Hull FC, they were clinical and Christian made a few mistakes.

"But he's been around the block and he'll keep working hard on his game. That's the nature of the sport.

"We're disappointed to lose, particularly conceding the points we did in the way we did in the first half, but I understand how and why it happened. It surprises me when people are surprised by it.

"If you look at the league table at the moment it's very wide open in terms of who can get into the play-offs."

Hull FC coach John Cartwright told BBC Radio Humberside:

"I thought it was a great team performance. We have had a rough few weeks trying to hold on to the ball which has hurt us but today everything came together for us.

"Christian Wade is very dangerous with the ball but he is new to the game and by kicking high to him and trying to make the tackle on him you take away that carry that he has. The position of the kick and the chase was the key.

"I doubt whether many people thought we could have won but [underdog] is a tag I've always enjoyed. It is not often a plan comes to fruition 100% and today was one of those days.

"We are in the mix [for the play-offs] and we play a lot of sides in front of us so it's going to be a really tough eight weeks until the end of the season but we have to enjoy the challenge."

Wigan: Field, Marshall, Eckersley, Wardle, Wade, Keighran, Smith, Havard, O'Neill, Dupree, Nsemba, Farrell, Ellis

Interchanges: Mago, Byrne, Leeming, Hill

Hull FC: Hardaker, Barron, Rapana, Litten, Martin, Charles, Sezer, Ese'ese, Cust, Knight, Cartwright, Fash, Aydin

Interchanges: Ashworth, Briscoe, Laidlaw, Hutchinson

Referee: Liam Moore.