WIGAN WARRIORS 22 HULL FC 26
DAVID KUZIO, The Brick Community Stadium, Saturday
A STUNNING second-half hat-trick from Lewis Martin saw Hull FC complete an amazing fightback to dump holders Wigan out of the Challenge Cup.
The Warriors dominated the opening 40 minutes as they outscored the Black and Whites by four tries to one.
Hull improved dramatically after the break but even tries from Amir Bourouh and Lewis Martin looked like being too little, too late until two more Martin tries in the final eight minutes grabbed the glory.
Wigan have won the last six available trophies including all four in 2024 – but that run will now end.
Wigan hit the front after just four minutes. An attempted intercept from Hull landed in the hands of Bevan French and he sent a ball over to Adam Keighran, who offloaded for Zach Eckersley to cross over.
Strong defence stopped Jed Cartwright from forcing his way over in response before the Warriors turned defence into attack and extended their advantage.
After a break involving Eckersley and Kruise Leeming, the ball went wide and Jai Field went over after a neat step and pass from Harry Smith, who converted for a 10-0 lead.
Wigan were dominating all over with Luke Thompson and Liam Byrne doing the hard yards up the middle, while Smith was pulling the strings elsewhere and Junior Nsemba punching holes out wide.
Wigan scored their third try in the 15th minute and it was all down to Smith, who threw a dummy and went through a gap before offloading for Nsemba to race away. Smith added the extras and the holders looked comfortable at 16-0.
Field left the field after 20 minutes with a hamstring issue, causing a major reshuffle as French moved to fullback, Keighran went in the halves and Liam Farrell filled in at centre.
Hull had their best spell of possession in Wigan’s half on the back of a penalty, six again and a drop out. Eckersley and Farrell combined to stop Martin from scoring, but there was no stopping Herman Ese’ese as he barged over from close range. Aidan Sezer converted as they trailed 16-6.
Hull were starting to get back into this game slightly, so Wigan and Smith took the sting out with a penalty to make it 18-6 as the Black and Whites were penalised for offside.
After Eckersley produced a try-saving tackle on Martin, the Warriors took their final chance of the first half with skipper Farrell the recipient after good work from Smith and French. Smith failed to convert but they led by 16 at half-time.
Harvey Barron’s interception sparked the attack that started the Hull comeback early in the second half, as Hull spread the ball to the left and Bourouh forced his way over.
Hull were reduced to twelve men for ten minutes when John Asiata was binned for a high tackle on Eckersley, yet Wigan looked the team a man light when the visitors spread the ball wide and Martin stepped back inside to beat French and touch down.
Sezer was unable to convert either of the tries, leaving an eight-point deficit to make up against an out-of-sorts Wigan.
Martin set up a tense finish as the winger collected a kick over the top from Sezer to then outpace French to get the ball down in the corner for a try converted by Sezer.
He then completed his hat-trick and his team’s stunning turnaround following a great ball from Sezer three minutes from time.
GAMESTAR: Lewis Martin was outstanding for Hull and deserved his second-half hat-trick.
GAMEBREAKER: Wigan led from the fourth minute and only let it slip when Martin completed his hat-trick with three minutes remaining.
HIGHLIGHT REEL: Aidan Sezer’s kick over the top was collected by Lewis Martin and the winger kept his composure to outpace Bevan French and score.
MATCHFACTS
WARRIORS
1 Jai Field
22 Zach Eckersley
3 Adam Keighran
4 Jake Wardle
5 Liam Marshall
6 Bevan French
7 Harry Smith
16 Liam Byrne
17 Kruise Leeming
10 Luke Thompson
11 Junior Nsemba
12 Liam Farrell
13 Kaide Ellis
Subs (all used)
15 Patrick Mago
19 Tyler Dupree
21 Sam Walters
23 Tom Forber
18th Man (not used)
20 Harvie Hill
Also in 21-man squad
24 Jack Farrimond
26 Jacob Douglas
27 Harvey Makin
Tries: Eckersley (4), Field (8), Nsemba (15), Farrell (38)
Goals: Smith 3/5
HULL FC
1 Jordan Rapana
2 Harvey Barron
3 Zak Hardaker
5 Tom Briscoe
22 Lewis Martin
14 Cade Cust
7 Aidan Sezer
8 Herman Ese’ese
9 Amir Bourouh
17 Jack Ashworth
11 Jed Cartwright
12 Jordan Lane
13 John Asiata
Subs (all used)
19 Brad Fash
23 Logan Moy
31 Hugo Salabio
40 Liam Knight
18th man (not used)
21 Will Gardiner
Also in 21-man squad
30 Callum Kemp
32 Will Kirby
33 Will Hutchinson
Tries: Ese’ese (25), Bourouh (47), Martin (55, 72, 77)
Goals: Sezer 3/5
Sin bin: Asiata (49) – high tackle
SCORING SEQUENCE: 4-0, 10-0, 16-0, 16-6, 18-6, 22-6; 22-10, 22-14, 22-20, 22-26
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Warriors: Harry Smith; Hull FC: Lewis Martin
Penalty count: 8-5
Half-time: 22-6
Referee: Chris Kendall
Attendance: 9,287
