Hull FC 24 St Helens 24: Yeaman’s hat-trick not enough as Hull hit by late call

Hull FC, despite being aggrieved at missing a third successive win following a controversial call near the end of an epic contest, should take comfort from knowing they have definitely achieved that.

Having witnessed an impressive 18-0 lead disappear amid St Helens’ stunning second half fightback, the East Yorkshire club thought Kirk Yeaman’s converted hat-trick try six minutes from time, after a brilliant break from Richard Horne, had been enough to see them home once more.

However, when Will Sharp inexplicably messed up the restart, they were left dejected as Steve Ganson awarded a penalty when Danny Washbrook contested a bouncing ball with debutant Matty Ashe from the resulting drop-out.

The referee deemed it was a dangerous challenge. It was debatable but so close it is hard to blame the official if it did turn out to be the wrong decision.

“We’ll wait for the feedback about the penalty,” said Hull coach Richard Agar, after seeing Jamie Foster stroke a 40m kick to level. “I thought the ball was there to be claimed. It was up in the air, a 50/50 ball and Danny Washbrook went to try and claim it.

“His eyes were on the ball and I thought he was quite entitled to make a play for it.

“It was contentious and disappointing... but there were some things about our game, certainly at the start of the second half, which weren’t right.

“You can’t let a team like Saints attack you like that for so long as sooner or later they’ll come up with points.”

Even after the drama of Ganson’s call, each team still had a chance to win.

Hull struggled to get Danny Tickle into position so it was no surprise when his drop goal was off-cue.

Saints, brilliantly led by James Roby, clinically showed just how to work towards the posts but Tickle raced out to block Kyle Eastmond’s effort and the points were shared.

It seemed unthinkable Hull would be in such a position after they built a commanding 18-4 interval advantage, Yeaman to the fore.

He has spoken of his desire to win back an England place after being shunned by Steve McNamara and his authoritative display here will help him no end.

The centre scored two first half tries – his eventual treble saw him become Super League’s leading scorer with 14 – and he continues to benefit from the marauding presence of Willie Manu.

Yeaman’s first came on 10 minutes courtesy of a splendid move, Horne performing a runaround with Craig Fitzgibbon before Sam Moa fed Manu, who sucked in defenders and off-loaded as he fell.

Yeaman’s second was the product of some classic impromptu skill from Sam Obst, the impish scrum-half delivering a cheeky chip over the static defence on halfway and then regathering.

Yeaman, 27, had also been denied earlier when Saints just managed to pull him down short after failing to deal once more with the hulking muscularity of Manu.

In between, Tom Briscoe had scored a marvellous individual try of his own, initiating it by stealing possession off Sia Soliola and then, moments later, embarrassing the Kiwi further by weaving past him on a run from dummy half which saw the winger slalom his way past a host of defenders from 35 metres.

Tickle improved all three scores and Saints – Roby aside – showed no signs of retaliating until Foster’s 34th-minute try after Roby and Tony Puletua had combined to set Ashe sprinting clear from downfield.

But rarely can a scrum-half ever have been more distant from the action as Bath-bound Eastmond’s embarrassing first-half display yesterday.

Due to a glut of injuries, he was back in the side for the first time since March 11, the night he was suspended for aiming obscene gestures at his own fans, but seemed almost miffed when the ball infrequently found him while loitering out of the way.

However, he became more active after the break and, with his excellent makeshift half-back partner Jon Wilkin producing some telling kicks, St Helens controlled far better and grabbed three tries inside 12 minutes to re-shape the match.

Roby picked up from a scrum base and darted blind to dummy over and begin the renaissance in the 50th minute.

Briscoe and Richard Whiting then dithered over Eastmond’s hanging kick to allow the scrum-half to pull off a magical reverse pass that saw Ade Gardner cross.

When Wilkin came up with a 40/20, Puletua rolled out of a couple of tackles to stretch over between the posts as Saints took the lead for the first time, Foster making it 22-18.

But Hull, who remain in eighth, showed great character to rally once more, producing a terrific defensive set at the end of a taxing Easter period to set up position for Yeaman’s third, and that should be the positive Agar and his men hold on to.

Hull: Whiting; Sharp, Gleeson, Yeaman, Briscoe; Horne, Obst; O’Meley, Houghton, Moa, Manu, Tickle, Fitzgibbon. Substitutes: Washbrook, Westerman, Dowes, Lauaki.

St Helens: Armstrong; Gardner, Shenton, Meli, Foster; Wilkin, Eastmond; Graham, Roby, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Ashurst, Soliloa, Puletua. Substitutes: Magennis, Dixon, Perry, Ashe.

Referee: S Ganson (St Helens).