Chris Chester claims Wakefield were denied victory against Hull
Friday 16 September 2016 12:46, UK
Wakefield coach Chris Chester hailed his side's best defensive display of the season, and claimed his side were denied victory by a wrong decision by video referee Phil Bentham to disallow a late try to centre Bill Tupou.
Wakefield, inspired by former Hull half-back Craig Hall, were the better team for long periods and scored tries through Joe Arundel and Tom Johnstone, but in the end were condemned to a sixth defeat in as many Super 8s matches.
"I'm very proud," Chester said. "I thought for long parts of that game we were the better team. It was a massive step up from where we've been in the last few weeks.
"We had lots of opportunities to put the game to bed with the amount of possession we had but for two weeks running couldn't get the ball over the line.
"I thought Craig Hall was outstanding and defensively we were very good, probably the best we've defended all season.
"We had the game taken away from us, not through any lack of effort but through a poor decision from the officials. The touchjudge said Bill Tupou was offside but you could clearly see he was onside.
"It was clearly a try, so we feel a bit aggrieved by it, and their last try came off a forward pass, that's just our luck."
Radford, too, was unhappy about the officiating, pointing much of his criticism towards rookie referee Chris Campbell.
"I don't want to get fined but there were a couple of controversial calls, not only for us," he said. "As a coach, all you want is consistency.
"It's the second time we've had him in a little over a month and tonight he was slightly better than before. I've got to give the league a call on Monday and query a few decisions."
Winning ways
Hull coach Lee Radford was delighted to watch his side return to winning ways in time to keep alive their treble hopes.
The Challenge Cup winners were heading for a third successive defeat when a rejuvenated Wakefield led 8-0 after half an hour, but tries from former Wildcat Danny Washbrook, substitute Jordan Thompson and centre Mahe Fonua saw them to an 18-12 win.
"I told them beforehand I'd take any kind of win and they held me to that," Radford said. "I'm over the moon with the two points, although obviously it was a bit of an eyesore for 80 minutes.
"We played really well last week against a good Wigan side and got nothing for it. At this time of the year all it's about is picking two points up."
Hull's first win since their Wembley triumph over Warrington cuts the Wolves' lead to just a point and they are now hoping for a Wigan win over the table-toppers on Friday night to set up a winner-takes-all clash for the League Leaders' Shield at the KCOM Stadium next week.
"I'll be watching that with a beer," Radford said. "Hopefully if Wigan knock Warrington off, we'll have a chance to collect the League Leaders' Shield at home, which would be great for our players and fans.
"If not, we want to finish second and get a home semi."
