Hull FC 30 Warrington Wolves 18: Tony Smith's side underline progress with inspired performance on big stage

Warrington Wolves topped the table going into Magic Weekend and hammered the Black and Whites 34-6 in April – but Tony Smith's side have come a long way since that painful experience at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

During their seven-match losing run earlier in the year, there is every chance Hull would have buckled after going 12-0 down early on.

They did exactly that two months ago against Warrington but there is a steely edge to the Airlie Birds that has been missing for several years.

Hull dug deep before half-time to go in just six points behind and scored five tries in an inspired second-half performance, including a hat-trick for the outstanding Josh Griffin.

A fifth win in six games sees Smith's men leapfrog Huddersfield Giants into ninth spot and restores some lost pride on behalf of their county after St Helens' thumping victory earlier on Sunday left all six Yorkshire clubs in the bottom half.

After blowing Hull away in the first meeting between the sides, Warrington must have been sensing another comfortable victory following a blistering start.

The Wire were 12-0 up inside 13 minutes, Connor Wrench outjumping Adam Swift to finish George Williams' kick before the half-back pounced on a loose ball near halfway to race over.

Hull responded positively and halved the deficit after claiming the restart. Darnell McIntosh tapped back Tex Hoy's cross-field kick and Danny Houghton was in the right place to finish.

The Black and Whites showed their new-found defensive resolve to repel incessant Warrington pressure before the break and got their rewards in the early stages of the second half.

Hull came up with the ball from the kick-off in a repeat of the first half and stunned the Wolves with three tries in little over 10 minutes.

After being held up over the line, Griffin got away an offload that was picked up by Houghton and in the blink of an eye Swift was finishing Jake Clifford's grubber kick.

The increasingly influential Griffin then hit Warrington with a quick double salvo to complete the comeback, steaming through a hole in the defence from Clifford's classy pass before pouching Jake Trueman's pinpoint cross-field kick.

Clifford could only add one conversion to his earlier goal but Hull were in control at 20-12.

The Wolves turned the tide following an error by Ligi Sao and were back within two points when Wrench finished from Dufty's cut-out pass and Stefan Ratchford added the extras.

A huge effort from Swift forced a mistake by Williams on the back of a break by Dufty – and that proved to be the match-clinching moment.

Griffin completed his hat-trick with 15 minutes remaining at the end of a scintillating move started by Hoy and Hull had the chance to finish Warrington off when Dufty dropped Clifford's deep kick close to his own line.

The Black and Whites were in no mood to let the opportunity slip by, Hoy dummying his way over out wide to put the seal on a memorable win.

Hull FC: Hoy, McIntosh, Scott, Sutcliffe, Swift, Trueman, Clifford, Fash, Houghton, Taylor, Griffin, Lane, Cator. Substitutes: Sao, Satae, Savelio, Dwyer.

Warrington Wolves: Dufty, Wrench, Minikin, Ratchford, Ashton, Williams, Drinkwater, Dudson, Clark, Vaughan, Currie, Harrison, Mata'utia. Substitutes: Bullock, Philbin, Walker, Green.

Referee: Jack Smith.