91Èȱ¬

Richard Whiting and Tom Briscoe scored two tries apiece to give a spirited Hull FC side victory at Warrington.

The Wolves took a first-half lead with tries from Simon Grix and Joel Monaghan, but Briscoe's score before the break kept Hull in touch.

Ryan Atkins extended Warrington's lead but replies from Tom Lineham and Whiting brought the scores level.

Whiting and Briscoe added their second tries to secure an impressive win.

Warrington, who were without injured full-back Brett Hodgson and captain Adrian Morley, who was made to wait for his comeback from a torn bicep, were unable to register a sixth straight success in all competitions.

Victory for Wigan at London Broncos on Saturday will put a gap of six points between themselves and the Wolves, while Hull have moved above Catalan Dragons into fifth position.

Early on, visiting winger Lineham had a try controversially ruled out by video referee Ben Thaler, who judged Whiting's challenge on Atkins to be an unfair push.

It took until the 29th minute for either team to score, and it was the home side who made the breakthrough as Grix ran onto a grubber kick from Lee Briers to touch down from close range.

The younger of Warrington's Monaghan brothers added a second try soon afterwards, expertly set up by Richie Myler, who enhanced his England claims with another assured performance at scrum-half.

Myler evaded two tackles and kicked high for Australian winger Monaghan, who broke through a weak tackle to dive over.

But Hull were far from out of the game and Briscoe's try on the stroke of half-time gave the Black and Whites hope.

NRL-bound Wire prop Mike Cooper lost the ball deep in his own half and it broke to Aaron Heremaia, who provided an inch-perfect kick for Briscoe to score under the posts.

In fact, Peter Gentle's men could have taken a lead into the break, but Ben Crooks's misdirected pass was cut out by Atkins with the try line at Lineham's mercy.

Centre Atkins made them pay by crossing for the first try of the second period, Myler again the creator with the boot, but quickfire scores from Lineham and Whiting put Hull back on terms at 16-16.

They took control when Whiting dashed over from 10 metres out for his second of the match and Briscoe's opportunist effort completed his brace in the last minute to give Hull a deserved win.

Warrington Wolves head coach Tony Smith:

"Hull deserved to win. They were a little bit more energetic than us in a couple of areas.

"There wasn't much between the two teams. They were both very committed to their defence and worked very hard to make it tough for their opponents to score.

"I'm pleased with the effort we put in. We weren't quite at our best in terms of handling but I can accept that. We just need to be a bit more clinical in these close matches."

Hull FC head coach Peter Gentle:

"We've been building for quite a while. There's a real confidence about us. The boys have been working hard and they deserve plenty of credit.

"I still think there are things we can get better at. We lacked a bit of composure in the first half.

"There was plenty of energy and enthusiasm but our execution could have been better and it was good to get a chat with them at half-time."

Warrington Wolves: Ratchford; C. Riley, Grix, Atkins, J. Monaghan; Briers, Myler; Wood, Higham, Hill, Waterhouse, Westwood, Cooper.

Replacements: M. Monaghan, Carvell, Currie, G. Riley.

Hull FC: McDonnell; Lineham, Crooks, Yeaman, Briscoe; Holdsworth, Horne; O'Meley, Houghton, Green, Ellis, Whiting, Pitts.

Replacements: Johnson, Heremaia, Lynch, Bowden.

Referee: Richard Silverwood (RFL)

Attendance: 9,387.