Hull FC were edged out in a fiery clash against Wigan.
Hull FC put in a spirited performance against Wigan.
Hull FC interim coach Andy Last has blasted the stoppage of the MKM Stadium countdown clock with just two minutes to go of Saturday’s 20-16 defeat to Wigan Warriors.
The running of the clock is not down to Hull FC and the MKM Stadium but the RFL and Sky Sports, with the clock going down at the death of the fiery Super League game.
Wigan Warriors ran out four-point winners after Harry Smith’s 72nd-minute try, with Hull winning the ball back after a short kick-off following a missed Adam Keighran penalty goal.
Hull then got a penalty themselves and marched upfield. According to Last, they were told by the referee they had 25 seconds to go before the full-time siren went off after one play.
That has brought frustration to Last, with a clear lack of communication between officials at the end of the game.
“It’s disgraceful, in my opinion,” Last told Hull Live after the game. “That’s the second time in the space of a month it’s happened. We played Warrington away and just before half-time, the clock went off.
“We think we’ve got a full set of six and then within two play of the balls, the game gets called for half-time. Today, we get told there are 25 seconds to go on the clock. We pass the ball and after one play, the game gets called.
“It shouldn’t be happening. It’s not good enough for us as a game. The clock is a massive part of the game. The players use the clock over the course of a game to make decisions and the fact that the clock has gone off is something the game really needs to look at. We can’t have that.
“You ask the ref and he says this. You ask the official on the dugout and he says this. That just shouldn’t happen. It’s a really bad look for the game and something that has happened on a consistent basis now.”
Last also believes the penalty count was high against Hull, with his side harshly penalised.
“I do,” he said when asked if that was the case. “There was a little bit of gamesmanship, shall we say; Kaide Ellis was into the referee during water breaks and then at half-time, Sean O’Loughlin was also into the official, and then we ended up on the end of some harsh calls in that second half.
“I’m also struggling with the Tommy Briscoe one. That was a try, in my opinion. But that’s been the story of our season. We haven’t had much luck along the way.”
As for the contest, Hull took the game to Wigan in a spirited display. They took the lead through Lewis Martin and Harvey Barron tries and looked in a strong position when Jed Cartwright scored a third. However, Wigan responded well. They hit back and then landed the decisive blow through Smith.
“We’re really disappointed with the result but really proud of the effort,” Last said. “Wigan came into this game in red-hot form and we knew that we needed to compete. I thought we were excellent. We really got the intent right to start the game.
“That gave us a platform to build on and we got our noses in front. We were in front or level until the 72nd minute and that speaks volumes of the character of the group we’ve currently got. There were lessons we needed to learn from last week. I thought it was evident today that we learned those lessons.
“We got the physical side of the game right. We just needed that extra bit of quality – it was lacking in certain moments of the game, but to go toe to toe with them, we can take a lot of confidence out of that.”