HALF TIME: Hull FC 10 Warrington Wolves 16 (From This Is Cheshire)

HALF TIME: Hull FC 10 Warrington Wolves 16

3:50pm Sunday 5th February 2012 in Sport By Mike Parsons

THINGS did not start off well for extremely adventurous Wolves but they hold a slender six-point lead at half time.

Rhys Williams’ forward pass on the second tackle of Wolves’ first set left his team under pressure in their own 20-metre area.

And when Rhys Evans and Stefan Ratchford were sucked into a double tackle, a switch play left Chris Bridge on his own allowing Wade McKinnon to feed Kirk Yeaman over after only three minutes. Danny Tickle was wide from the touchline but Hull had a perfect start.

But it was by keeping the ball alive all over the field that put Hull on the back foot, with tries following for Tony Smith's men in the 11th and 14th minutes.

A grubber kick by Richie Myler allowed Williams to wrap up Will Sharp by the corner post and when Hull lost possession on the first tackle Trent Waterhouse used all his strength to pounce on the loose ball and wriggle over for a debut try. Ben Westwood converted for a 6-4 lead.

Then Wolves went left again with a lovely pass from Simon Grix sending Waterhouse away and with options on either shoulder he elected to put Williams over in the left corner. Westwood was off target with the extras but Wolves were 10-4 in front.

Somehow, with chances not taken at either end, it stayed that way until the 35th minute.

Wolves had squandered possession on Hull’s 40-metre line and piggy-backed by a penalty and knock-on Danny Tickle charged over from a Danny Houghton pass and converted himself for 10-10.

But Wolves responded in the best possible way.

Hull conceded possession from the re-start and Myler fired the impressive Grix through a big hole from 20 metres in the 38th minute. Westwood’s conversion put Wolves back in front at 16-10.