Horne's late try ends Hull's 10-year wait
Wigan Warriors 18 Hull FC
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Your support makes all the difference.A try seven minutes from time by Richard Horne gave Hull their first win at Wigan for 10 years and consigned the home side to their third Super League defeat of the season.
Hull looked a beaten team as Wigan came back from 14-2 down to dominate the second half at the JJB Stadium and get their noses in front.
But Hull found reserves of determination from somewhere and crowned their fightback when Horne took a pass from Lee Jackson and, with the Wigan defence slow to react, managed to reach over the line, with Matt Crowther's simple conversion giving them a lead they defended successfully for the minutes that remained.
Wigan were not as depleted as they feared they might be, but their more disgruntled supporters had a chance to judge whether they might really be better off without their new Australian imports, because both Julian O'Neill and Jamie Ainscough were missing.
The early signs for their reshuffled side were not propitious, especially when they went 12 points down to a Hull team which has forgotten what it is like to win at Wigan.
After an early exchange of penalties, it was Hull who showed the sounder organisation and the greater penetration in attack.
Kicking with a strong wind behind them, they forced the stakes first through Paul Cooke's bomb and then from one hoisted by Jason Smith, with Toa Kohe-Love following up to touch down.
When Lee Jackson went over from dummy half after 22 minutes and Crowther kicked his third goal, Wigan were deep in trouble.
It took a stroke of luck to partially extricate them. Andy Farrell's kick should have been taken comfortably, but Steve Prescott let it bounce and amid the chaos that ensued, Kris Radlinski reached it before the dead ball line, Farrell's second goal putting Wigan more closely in touch than they strictly deserved to be.
It got better when Brett Dallas' sparkling run out of defence triggered the first attack of the second half. The move was still going nowhere until a Hull knock-down gave Wigan six more tackles and Dallas scored from Terry Newton's fast pass from dummy-half, with Farrell equalising from the touchline.
Hull's handling mistakes gave them too much defensive work to do and just before the hour it told on them, David Hodgson taking Ricky Bibey's pass to get over and put Wigan back in the lead for the first time since the opening minutes.
They should have gone on with it from there but had the game snatched from them at the death, putting even more pressure on a club where so much is expected.
Wigan Warriors: Radlinski; Carney, Connolly, Hodgson, Dallas; Farrell, Lam; O'Connor, Newton, Howard, Wild, Cassidy, Furner. Substitutes used: M Smith, Bibey, Craig Smith, O'Loughlin.
Hull FC: Prescott; Chris Smith, Kohe-Love, Mackay, Crowther; Horne, J Smith; Greenhill, Jackson, Carvell, Maher, Ryan, Cooke. Substitutes used: Bird, King, Logan, Craven.
Referee: S Ganson (St Helens).
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