Winger Matty Russell grabbed a hat-trick of tries as Warrington Wolves staged a tremendous fightback to earn their first point of the Betfred Super League season against Hull FC.
The Wolves, who began last year with seven straight wins, looked destined to open up with a seventh straight defeat when they trailed 20-4 just before half-time.
But they turned the game on its head with a rousing comeback to draw 22-22 after both teams missed a flurry of drop-goal attempts in a frantic finish.
#SLWarHul
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) April 1, 2017
FULL TIME. Huge fight back by @wolvesrl to earn a point! pic.twitter.com/DGJkvYco7r
Hull, who ended Warrington's winning run 12 months ago, will be kicking themselves for not completing a fifth consecutive win as they could only add Marc Sneyd's fifth goal to first-half tries from Albert Kelly, Jake Connor and Jamie Shaul.
Russell crucially scored his second try on the stroke of the interval and a Kurt Gidley penalty 10 minutes from time earned the Wolves a share of the spoils.
Hull coach Lee Radford said: "At the end it was a point gained. It was a really bizarre game.
"I was over the moon with the lead we built up, but in the second period we very much went into our shells and ended up hanging on for dear life.
"It was very similar to last week (at Wigan) and we're going to have to address that really sharp. We can't build a lead up and hand it back to the opposition.
"We expected a desperate Warrington and they didn't disappoint.
"We've only lost once this year and we're not playing particularly great. I just hope we start playing great soon. We looked flat."
Hat-trick hero @mattyrussell3 â˜ï¸â˜ï¸â˜ï¸#SLWarHul pic.twitter.com/hv8M7lnPGV
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) April 1, 2017
Opposite number Tony Smith said: "I've got to be happy about our second half.
"There was a lot of improvement, in the second half in particular. In the first half we were still way too guilty of self-inflicted harm.
"I thought Hull were a bit flat today and we let them off the hook in the first half - we gave them most of their points, either through penalties or intercepts.
"I said we just needed to be pretty strong and basic today to get a decent result and I wasn't far wrong.
"The boys are working hard and competing and they've got desire and unity. We've still got a few rough edges to knock off and, when we do that, we will be getting the two points and not the one."
- See more at: http://www.rugby-league.com/superleague/match_report/13185#sthash.Xihg5SHb.dpuf
