Hull FC 12-63 Warrington: Blake Austin hits four tries as Wolves run riot
Josh Charnley adds a hat-trick as Hull FC are thrashed at the KCOM Stadium
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 30/03/19 8:34am
Blake Austin scored four tries as Warrington thrashed Hull FC 63-12 at the KCOM Stadium to continue their flying start to the Betfred Super League season.
The Australian stand-off crossed three times in the first half and added a fourth after the break as Hull failed to deal with the Wolves' clever running and slick passing. Austin also kicked a late drop goal to add insult to injury.
Warrington scored 11 tries in total as they made it seven wins in eight Super League games this season, with the other scores coming from a Josh Charnley hat-trick, a Tom Lineham double and efforts by Daryl Clark and Ben Murdoch-Masila. Stefan Ratchford kicked nine conversions.
Hull had been humbled 80-10 in the previous meeting between the two sides last season and although this defeat was not as heavy they had little to show for their efforts.
Albert Kelly got their first points just before half-time and Jordan Lane added a second try after the break. Both were converted by Marc Sneyd.
Hull failed to halt a clever run by Austin who broke out of a tackle before stretching to dot down the ball and the opening try was ruled good by the TMO, with Ratchford kicking the extras to put his side 6-0 up after eight minutes.
Warrington were twice held by some resolute defence but were not to be denied a third time and Clark picked up on the last tackle and surged through a gap to score his side's second try with 11 minutes gone. Ratchford kicked a second easy conversion.
Ratchford cut through the Hull line from a clever short pass by Chris Hill and in the next move Austin dummied before crossing for his second try, with Ratchford making it 18-0 with only a quarter of an hour gone.
Charnley slid over in the corner for try number four as Warrington found too much space down the right. Ratchford missed his first kick from the touchline.
Try number five followed shortly after when Josh Griffin failed to hold a high kick and Charnley had the easy task of touching down for his second try. Ratchford made no mistake this time to put his side 28-0 in front with 17 minutes of the half still remaining.
Austin claimed his third try with a strong run at the Hull defence which saw him swerve two tackles before throwing a dummy pass to outrun the covering defence and touch down for another converted score.
Kelly finally got the home side on the scoreboard as his strong surge from close to the line helped him break two tackles. Sneyd kicked the conversion to make it 34-6 to Warrington at the interval.
Warrington started the second half on the front foot as Ratchford bent his run to break the Hull defence and then found Murdoch-Masila with a pass inside. He slipped two tackles before touching down, giving Ratchford an easy sixth successful kick.
Austin grabbed his fourth try 13 minutes into the second half as he threw another dummy, this time close to the line, before touching down. Ratchford's seventh conversion put the visitors 40 points in front.
Lineham took Warrington to the 50-point mark as he forced his way over despite the efforts of three defenders but Ratchford could not add the extras midway through the second half.
Warrington took their try count into double figures as Charnley touched down for a third time and Ratchford then kicked the Wolves 50 points ahead.
Hull reduced the deficit with their second try as Lane found a rare gap in the Warrington defence with 12 minutes to go, with Sneyd kicking a second conversion.
Lineham set up his second try with an interception close to his own line before running the length of the field to score under the posts with five minutes to go, giving Ratchford another easy kick. Austin then kicked a late drop goal to seal a comprehensive 63-12 win.
