Hull FC battle back to deny Wakefield Trinity first home Super League win of 2025

Wakefield had led for three quarters of the game after an early Mason Lino penalty and a converted Jack Croft try had given them an 8-0 lead.

And although that was cut to 8-6 through Herman Ese’ese’s converted try, Trinity held the visitors at bay until two quick tries from Ed Chamberlain and Lewis Martin swung the game back into the Black and Whites’ favour for the first time.

Cam Scott’s late try against his former club set up a tense finale but Trin will have felt aggrieved tries from the impressive Josh Rourke, Tom Johnstone and Lino were all ruled out which could have put the game out of sight.

It was a clash of two in-form sides at the DIY Kitchens Stadium with Trinity looking for a third consecutive win in all competitions after great victories at Warrington Wolves in Super League and at Huddersfield Giants in the Challenge Cup, and with Hull looking to extend their unbeaten sequence in all competitions to four.

Not only did they do that, but they also eclipsed their Super League points scoring record (6) from last season.

For Daryl Powell and Wakey, they are still looking for their first Super League win of the season, with this battling defeat following losses to Hull KR and St Helens here.

And Powell had to do a rejig of his team with last weekend’s Challenge Cup success coming at a cost.

Rourke replaced the injured Max Jowitt at full-back, with Scott making his competitive debut for Trinity against his ex-employers. Jake Trueman, however, missed out against his former side with the brilliant Russell partnering Lino in the halves. Josh Griffin and Jay Pitts also came in as Ky Rodwell made his Super League bow from the bench.

If there were any doubts about where the goals would come from with Jowitt’s injury on the forefront of many Trin fans’ minds, those were put to bed when Lino sent over an early penalty.

There was an energy and hunger about Powell’s men in the opening stages and they deservedly got the game’s first try when Croft was sent over from close range after great work from Liam Hood at dummy half.

The impressive Rourke was then denied an absolute dream of a try after somehow collecting Russell’s high kick from nowhere and racing clear to touch down. But it was disallowed by the video ref for offside.

It will probably go down as one of the best non-tries of the year so far.

The visitors forced themselves back into the contest when Ese’ese went over to make it 8-6 with Aidan Sezer’s conversion.

But Trinity were catching the eye with their attacking threat and they could have been out of sight at half-time had Oliver Pratt, playing on the wing, and then Corey Hall, not been dragged into touch by a desperate visiting defence within minutes of each other.

The half ended with Trin thinking they had finally extended their slender lead but Johnstone was adjudged to be offside before collecting another Russell high bomb and touching down.

Trin’s frustrations continued into the second half when Lino was denied a superb try by the video ref.

And Hull were able to take advantage of the narrow scoreline and got their noses in front when Chamberlain, and then Martin, sent the travelling fans into delight.

Scott’s late try turned out to be a consolation as Trin were edged out.

Wakefield: Rourke, Pratt, Scott, Hall, Johnstone, Lino, Russell, McMeeken, Hood, Hamlin-Uele, Croft, Griffin, Pitts

Interchanges: Rodwell, Atoni, Smith, Faatili

Tries: Croft, Scott

Conversions: Lino

Penalties: Lino

Hull FC: Moy, Rapana, Hardaker, Briscoe, Martin, Cust, Sezer, Ese’ese, Borough, Knight, Cartwright, Lane, Asiata

Interchanges: Chamberlain, Ashworth, Fash, Watts

Tries: Ese’ese, Chamberlain, Martin

Conversions: Sezer (2)

Attendance: 8,027