August 19, 2022

Murphy stars as Trinity beat Hull FC

Wakefield Trinity claimed their second victory on the bounce as Willie Poching’s men overcome Hull FC at the MKM Stadium with a 26-18 victory.

A rampant display started by a deadly winger, Lewis Murphy secured two first-half tries to get us on the front foot, while Lee Kershaw also found himself on the scoresheet as we took a 16-6 lead into half-time.

We continued to dominate throughout the second half as Murphy added another to his growing collection after Liam Hood touched down shortly after the interval.

Trinity headed to the MKM Stadium looking like a team on the up, following their outstanding victory over second-placed Wigan last weekend.

Jamie Shaul was unable to play against his parent club as Max Jowitt replaced him at fullback, while David Fifita was brought back into the side on Friday evening.

It was the away side who had much of the opening 15 as Kershaw tried to tunnel his way through the Hull defence from dummy-half before Murphy’s acrobatic effort was brought back.

The Wakefield winger did get his just rewards for a solid opening display, though. Nice hands through the line found Max Jowitt in acres of space down the left, he brought in two FC defenders before firing the ball out to Murphy as he spectacularly touched down.

Trinity didn’t stop there, and it didn’t take long for Kershaw to add to his ever-growing collection. The Trinity winger played a lovely supporting role as we came down the right with menace.

Quick thinking from Corey Hall left Kershaw with plenty of time to slide in and cross the whitewash for the second time in two weeks. Mason Lino was successful with the boot to offer Trinity a 12-0 lead.

Despite making their first-half dominance pay, it was actually the home side who clawed their way back into the contest, Ben McNamara adding his name to the scoresheet with just 10 minutes of the half remaining.

That didn’t spoil Murphy’s fun, though, as the winger added his second of the evening in an unorthodox fashion.

Let’s have a go at explaining this one…

A huge kick from Jacob Miller caused all sorts of problems for the Hull defence, with the ball eventually falling on the head of Trinity Centre Lee Gaskell. The ball then dribbled into the in-goal as Lewis Murphy raced to ground on the left-hand side.

After much deliberation, the try was confirmed as we took a grip of the game just before the interval.

Trinity was was motoring, and whatever Willie Poching said at the break worked wonders as Hood added to our score straight after the break. Following huge metres up field through Miller, the ball eventually fell at the hands of Corey Hall, whose outrageous offload in the Hull in-goal found the Trinity hooker as he touched down.

A sensational individual performance wouldn’t be complete without three of the best, and Murphy didn’t go home empty-handed. Trinity was loving life at the MKM Stadium, Gaskell dancing his way to the line before the ball was slapped from his grasp, only for Murphy to pick up the pieces and claim his third of the evening.

Wakefield was in their groove and turning up the heat on the home side. Eddie Battye came close as he touched down, however, the referee judged the ball was knocked on.

Murphy did think he had added a fourth with just 10 minutes of the contest remaining, however, the referee awarded a penalty in the home side’s favour.

The final two tries of the evening came to the hosts, however, they seemed to be just a consolation. Ellis Longstaff pounced on a Trinity error in the defensive line to touch down before Chris Satae powered over.

The two points were secured and Trinity headed back down the M62 with another victory as they move in the right direction in the Super League standings.