Hull FC gave their best performance of the season in an enthralling 26-16 victory over the Warrington Wolves at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. Despite the return of Wolves captain Lee Briers a second-half fight back from the black and whites gave the Hull side a well-earned two points in a game dominated by strong defensive efforts from both teams The first score of the night came on the half hour mark and Peter Gentle’s side were 10-6 down after the first 40 minutes as tries from Simon Grix and Joel Monaghan put Warrington 10-0But FC put themselves on the scoresheet before half time with a score from Tom Briscoe. Warrington extended their lead at the start of the half through Ryan Atkins but the black and whites hit back with a quick brace from Richard Whiting and Tom Lineham’s 11th try of the season. Briscoe put the icing on the cake with his second try of the night scoring with the last possession of the game. Hull withstood an early scare after a knock-on at the play of the ball from Lineham but the defence won the ball back after Ben Westwood’s wayward pass and the Warrington second row then gave away a penalty for a high shot. The black and whites came within 10 metres of the Warrington line winning a scrum after a knock-on but Horne passed the ball forward on the first tackle relieving the pressure on the Wolves’ defence. Lineham had an early try chalked off after a push from Whiting on Atkins off the ballWaterhouse lost the ball in the tackle and Whiting was judged to have illegally blocked Atkins from reaching the ball before Richard Horne played Lineham into space on the wing. The home side were struggling to break through Hull’s spirited defence until Atkins broke through the line on the left edgeHe was one-on-one with Shannon McDonnell but his pass outside to Chris Riley was knocked-on by his winger and a gilt-edge chance to take the lead was spurned. Hull missed another opportunity in attack as Kirk Yeaman knocked-on on the 10 metre line and both defences proved strong as the scoreline remained 0-0 after 25 minutes. Warrington finally broke the deadlock on 28 minutes after Johnson knocked the ball on on halfway After working towards Hull’s line Michael Monaghan passed outside to Briers who kicked a grubber behind Yeaman and Briscoe and Grix planted the ball down for the score. Wires advantage was doubled within a few minutes after a break from Briers from Gareth Carvell’s offload down the middleBriers then passed to Richie Myler who chipped the ball for Joel Monaghan who managed to shrug off Briscoe’s attempted tackle to dive over the lineBriers missed the conversion and Warrington held a 10-0 lead with just seven minutes left in the half. Hull bagged a try of their own thanks to the new ‘free play’ rule through BriscoeMike Cooper knocked the ball on and it fell to CrooksThe centre kicked a grubber which was charged down but Aaron Heremaia collected it and chipped a ball over to Briscoe who beat Joel Monaghan to the ball to score under the posts. The visitors could have levelled before half time after a break from Ben Crooks but his pass outside to Lineham was intercepted by Atkins despite having an unmarked Whiting on his inside. FC started the second half with a kick on the full but Warrington failed to capitalise on their advantage and Cooper knocked-on from Carvell’s poor pass on Hull’s 40. It took 10 minutes for Warrington to add their third try of the game through AtkinsMyler chipped the ball to the corner and it looked to have been taken by Lineham but the Warrington centre proved stronger and plucked the ball from his grasp to come down with the ball and score. Lineham finally got his name on the board with a superb solo effort in the cornerLynch forced his way to within a metre of the line in the centre of the field and Hull worked the ball rightHorne played the pass to Lineham who managed to jump over Chris Riley’s attempted tackle to score. The black and whites drew level after Whiting’s score under the postsHoughton played a suspect pass to Crooks who broke through the line and managed to get an offload inside to Whiting who strolled in to level the score 16-16 with 20 minutes left in the game. Hull took the lead for the first time in the game after another try from WhitingWarrington pegged Hull back in their half but Currie gave away a penalty for holding down relieving the pressure on FC’s defence Atkins then knocked the ball on with Warrington’s next possession and FC drove forwardHorne delayed a pass to Whiting on the outside and the utility man battled through three defenders to scoreDaniel Holdsworth kicked his third conversion of the night for a 22-16 lead. Briscoe secured the victory with a try in the last minute of the matchHe managed to take Yeaman’s pass on the wing before chipping the ball over Monaghan and beating Ratchford to scoreHoldsworth kicked the conversion as the final hooter went giving FC only their second victory in 10 visits to Warrington. Warrington: Ratchford, C Riley, Grix, Atkins, J Monaghan; Briers, Myler; Hill, Higham, Wood, Waterhouse, Westwood, Cooper Replacements: M Monaghan, Carvell, Currie, G Riley T: Grix, J Monaghan, Atkins G: Briers 2/3 Hull FC: McDonnell, Lineham, Crooks, Yeaman, Briscoe; Holdsworth, Horne; O’Meley, Houghton, Green, Ellis, Whiting, Pitts Replacments: Johnson, Heremaia, Lynch, Bowden T: Briscoe 2, Lineham, Whiting 2 G:Holdsworth 3/5 Referee: Richard Silverwood RLFANS Man of the Match: Daniel Holdsworth Half Time: 10-6 Full Time: 16-26