Hull FC 14 Wakefield Trinity 10: Returning Agar comes close to unlikely victory with Wakefield

Peter Gentle’s side had been in complete control against a battling Wakefield outfit yesterday without ever amassing the points their dominance warranted.

That almost came back to harm them when Trinity, who had barely mustered an attacking chance all afternoon, struck with two late tries to leave the hosts hanging on.

It would have been a sweet victory for Agar, who was relieved of his duties last September after nearly four years in charge of the East Yorkshire club.

His Trinity side had struggled with their handling in the awful wintry weather but defended with real spirit to continually thwart the hosts.

Gentle admitted: “We should have been further ahead with all that territory and in the end it was all hands on deck – we nearly threw it away.

“We had more than enough opportunities and we’re still struggling with the way we want to play but we had to adapt in those conditions.

“I wasn’t happy with our short kicking game – we should have forced more repeat sets – but it’s two points and I’m happy with that.”

Winger Will Sharp, who returned the ball with real strength yesterday, scored his first try of the season in an impressive display while captain Andy Lynch led from the front with his customary industry in the front row.

Danny Tickle’s goal-kicking again proved crucial as his three successes and 100 per cent record eventually proved the difference as Hull responded to the previous week’s last minute loss at Salford.

They remain unbeaten at home this term and will head to St Helens with renewed confidence on Friday night but there is no escaping the fact Wakefield could so easily have snatched this.

Fittingly, it was ex-Hull KR winger Ben Cockayne who made the initial breakthrough, latching on to former Hull loose forward Danny Washbrook’s kick as Wade McKinnon dallied in the 70th minute.

It had genuinely been Wakefield’s first real threatening move but – with confidence suddenly soaring and half-back Kyle Wood bringing some zip off the bench – they were in again four minutes later.

A loose off-load was hacked on down the middle and it was Wood who won the race to dive on the bouncing ball to leave Isaac John with a simple conversion under the posts.

Hull, so organised and efficient for so long, were now ragged and shaken.

As they conceded a third consecutive penalty, Wakefield had one last chance to strike but the home side, who saw Wigan signing Eamon O’Carroll finally make his debut along with impressive hooker Jamie Ellis, just managed to restore some order.

Both teams had struggled early on as snow and rain lashed down making for an error-strewn opening but it was Hull who settled into the game and they went ahead through Kirk Yeaman’s 18th-minute try after he got on the end of Richard Horne’s well-placed grubber.

Trinity’s defence, which conceded four tries to kicks in their home loss against Bradford the previous week, had been caught napping once more but after that they largely proved alert and disciplined.

Tickle converted but Hull’s only other points came from the second-row’s penalty in the 29th minute when Richard Mathers felled the excellent Richard Whiting with a high tackle.

Yeaman almost got a second after Mathers made a hash of another Horne kick but the Trinity full-back just recovered in time to knock the ball dead.

Hull applied similar pressure in the second period with Wakefield, who had lost Danny Kirmond to a rib injury early on, failing to get out of their own half for long periods.

However, their last plays were not up to scratch and, with Horne and Brett Seymour still adjusting as a half-back partnership, they could not build the necessary pressure to make Trinity buckle.

It needed an unfortunate slip in Trinity’s defensive line to offer Sharp his chance in the 62nd minute.

Ellis, the young ex-Leigh playmaker who looked well-suited on his Super League debut, found Seymour and it was Vince Mellars who lost his footing to let Tony Martin ease the winger in at the corner.

Tickle landed another touchline conversion and that should have seen the Black and Whites home.

But Wakefield made their rally and, after Hull prop Sam Moa was put on report for a negligible challenge, they almost snatched an unlikely success.

Hull: McKinnon; Sharp, Martin, Yeaman, Briscoe; Horne, Seymour; O’Meley, Houghton, Lynch, Manu, Tickle, Aspinwall. Substitutes: Whiting, Moa, Ellis, O’Carroll.

Wakefield: Mathers; Fox, Collins, Mellars, Cockayne; Smith, John; Raleigh, Aiton,Southern, Lauitiiti, Kirmond, Washbrook. Substitutes: Wilkes, Wood, Johnson, Walshaw.

Referee: S Ganson (St Helens).

Late fightback earns praise from coach

WAKEFIELD Trinity Wildcats coach Richard Agar took plenty of encouragement from his side’s 14-10 loss at KC Stadium, writes Dave Craven.

There was no winning return for the former Hull FC coach on his first trip back to his old club but he refused to be downbeat.

Wakefield, who remain in 11th spot, have now not won since an opening-night victory at Widnes and were under immense pressure for much of the game again yesterday afternoon.

However, two late tries from Ben Cockayne and Kyle Wood saw them almost wipe out a 14-point deficit and Agar believes that bodes well for the future.

“I thought we were tremendously courageous,” he said, following a fixture played in awful conditions.

“We had to withstand a lot defensively but our defence really held up.

“Hull threw a lot at us, had a lot of field position and territory and on a day like today that’s tough.

“But I felt we finished the stronger side and the boys in there are saying if it’d have gone on another two or three minutes we could have won it.

“Our performance showed a lot about our character.

“Hull played with more energy but to come back as we did, we will take a lot out from that performance from a defensive point of view and a character standpoint because we had them on the ropes at the end and they were hanging on for a victory,” he added.

Wakefield were certainly more structured defensively than in the 36-18 home loss against Bradford the previous week.

However, they could not generate many attacking opportunities until the introduction of young half-back Wood sparked them up near the end.

“We didn’t get a lot of chances to take their line on and I thought we played the first half too much in the middle,” admitted Trinity coach Agar.

“We lost Danny Kirmond to a rib injury quite early and that messed up our interchanges a bit as we had so much defending to do.

“But, as Kyle has done in every game, he made an impact with the ball when he came on.

“He certainly lifted our tempo and helped our kicking game; he’s a very talented little player.”