Hull FC‘s Tristan Norfolk celebrated his England call up earlier in the week with two tries, as Mike Swainger’s side pulled off a notable 36-26 victory against the London Roosters at the Allam Arena.
The match was played after an England open training session at nearby St Mary’s College and the crowd that stayed on were treated to an excellent contest which saw the black and white’s register their second consecutive win to consolidate third place in Betfred Wheelchair Super League.
England international Martin Norris, on his return to Hull from Wigan, was the player of the match, posting a hat trick of tries. Roosters opened the scoring, Jack Linden setting up Scott Trigg-Turner and converting, but the hosts hit back with 20 points without reply through two tries from Norris, one by Nathan Sherwood and Norfolk’s first - from a Norris cut out pass - player/coach Mike Swainger with one goal and Norfolk another.
Amrik Baines got the visitors on the board after a repeat set just before the break, Linden again goaling to make it 20-12. Norris completed his treble at the start of the second half, Baines responding, Norfolk’s double and a second Swainger goal extending the Hull advantage to 30-16.
Lewis King replied with a fine solo try for the Roosters which Linden goaled, and an excellent floated pass from Joe Coyd saw Linden over out wide to narrow the gap to four points going into the final minutes.
Steve Sampher sealed victory for Hull when pouncing on a fumbled Norris cross field kick, Swainger goaling. “It was a fantastic team performance and we stuck to the game plan,” said Swainger. “We have pushed the Roosters close before but to finally get the win was a proud moment for everyone at the club.”
By Phil Caplan
