Spencer George scored a dramatic last-minute try to earn Hull FC’s Scholarship side a well-deserved 24-24 draw against Warrington Wolves Under 16s.
In a thrilling affair at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, there was nothing to separate the sides at the break, with tries from Josh Horne and Kirils Prigorkins sandwiching a pair of Warrington tries.
The hosts went into a 24-12 lead in the second-half, but a late George brace earned a draw for the visitors.
The Match
Hull were the first to find themselves under pressure after Prigorkins fielded a Warrington kick and was dragged out into touch – but the visitors gave a promising early account of their defensive steel to keep them at bay.
At the other end of the field, Warrington coughed up possession cheaply and they were made to pay the price. Horne’s ball-running ability came to the fore as the young halfback sliced his way through from close range, just as he did in the tie against St Helens a fortnight ago.
Hull’s lead wasn’t a lengthy one, though. They were frustrated by conceding a cheap penalty inside the Warrington half, and Bobby Tyerman’s straight-forward carry at first-receiver took him over the whitewash.
Once again, a penalty inside the Warrington half invited the hosts to march down the field, and they were in no mood to show mercy. Thomas Rhodes in the scrum cap caught the Hull defence out with a big dummy, breaking the line and racing into the clear to score from 20 metres out.
A chance to level the scores went abegging when Andrew McCracken’s short dummy-half pass to George was called forward just after the prop crashed over the line.
At the other end, Warrington had a try of their own chalked off just a few minutes later. Hull’s defensive line had been obstructed after Sam Dickenson had run behind one of his dummy runners.
In what was becoming a thoroughly enjoyable game of Rugby League, parity was restored. Prigorkins rose highest to take Horne’s kick out of the air and stepped past fullback Dickenson to score underneath the posts.
HALF-TIME: Wolves Scholars 12-12 Hull Scholars
Despite a promising start to the second half from the Black & Whites, Warrington scored first after the restart following a Hull error deep inside their own territory. The visitors went to sleep at the play-the-ball and the lively dummy-half, Leyton Haddrell, took advantage of an opening besides the FC markers.
One of Warrington’s key strengths was their kick chase. Many times, Hull were bundled into touch or dragged into their in-goal when fielding a kick from the Wolves, and that pressure eventually paid dividends when they went into the biggest lead of the night with just a quarter of the match remaining.
The ball was shifted out to the left and Cameron Cooper showed his acrobatic skills to dive in at the left corner, and Ewan Irwin’s touchline conversion set Hull a 12-point target to get back on level terms.
Having been thwarted by a forward pass call in the first-half, there was no stopping George when he came careering onto Harri Lloyd’s dummy-half pass to crash over the try-line from close range, breathing life into the Hull comeback mission.
Hull were energised. They were carrying hard and tackling harder at the end of the match approached. When a Warrington kick went dead in-goal and Hull had a seven-tackle set, the Black & Whites had an opportunity to get back on terms.
Horne and Finlay Davies both set up strongly with dangerous runs, and prop-forward George once again crashed over at first-receiver in the final play of the game.
Davies took his time with the conversion attempt and slotted over the two points, bringing the scores level as the referee’s final whistle sounded.
FULL-TIME: Wolves Scholars 24-24 Hull Scholars
Squads & Scorers
Hull: Eccles, Yorke, Nelson-Hewitt, Hayward, Prigorkins, Tallantire, Horne, Donnachie, Davies, Smith, Paleaaesina, Cheshire, Wilson
Hull Interchanges: Bartle, Bone, George, Kassim, Lloyd, McCracken, Turner
Hull Tries: Horne, Prigorkins, George (2)
Hull Goals: Davies (3/3), Turner (1/1)
Wolves: Dickenson, Wilson, Tyerman, Dobbs, Cooper, Irwin, Rhodes, Holdsworth, Haddrell, Bateson, Bishop, Daniels, Livesey
Wolves Interchanges: Bottomley, Hartill, Marshall, Rafferty
Wolves Tries: Tyerman, Dickenson, Haddrell, Cooper
Wolves Goals: Irwin (4/4)
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