Warrington Wolves 40 Hull FC 18: Gentle blast at penalty count as Hull stumble

The England international scored two first-half tries and claimed his hat-trick with a superb individual effort to put his side on the road to victory and close the gap on leaders Wigan to a point.

Hull were on the receiving end of a 15-8 penalty count and also had Willie Manu sin-binned during the second half when the Wolves grabbed two tries in his absence.

Gentle said: “The rucks were disgraceful today, they were the slowest they have been all year and unfortunately he was only penalising one side.

“Against a side running second in the table you need to go 50-50 with possession of the football but a with a two-to-one penalty count you’ve not a chance.

“I thought our guys were good for periods but it was hard to generate any kind of field position and I don’t think we played the ball once in their 20 in the second half.

“I’m proud of the spirit the boys showed, they dug in and really tried hard but they became as increasingly frustrated as I did.

“It’s disappointing but I saw enough spirit there that we’ll get back on the horse and be right for next week.”

Hull grabbed tries through Kirk Yeaman, Manu and Joe Westerman and three goals from Danny Tickle in defeat.

Wolves coach Tony Smith said: “Ryan was on fire today, in real good form. He looked sharp, powerful and speedy for most of the game.

“And he did some tough stuff for us as well, it just wasn’t all flashy stuff, it just looked like that when he got the ball someone hit the fast forward button.”

Warrington Wolves: Ratchford, Riley, C. Bridge, Atkins, J. Monaghan, Briers, O’Brien, Hill, Higham, Carvell, Waterhouse, Cooper, Harrison. Substitutes: M. Monaghan, Wood, McCarthy, Currie.

Hull FC: Russell, Crooks, Turner, Yeaman, T. Briscoe, Horne, Seymour, Moa, Whiting, Lynch, Manu, Tickle, Westerman. Substitutes: Heremaia, Aspinwall, Kent, Pitts.

Referee: B Thaler (Wakefield).