Hull coach Lee Radford hails Gareth Ellis after win over Wakefield

Ellis: lead from the front for Hull FC

Hull coach Lee Radford hailed the performance of skipper Gareth Ellis after he defied injury to lead his side to a precious 31-24 win over Wakefield that lifted them into the top eight of the Super League.

The victory meant that Hull leapfrogged neighbours Hull KR into the top eight of the Super League but they were pushed all the way by an impressive Wakefield side who belied their lowly position with a superb performance.

But for a magnificent display from Ellis, Hull might have been handed a second defeat in five days by Super League's bottom club.

The former England forward had been ruled out with knee and ankle injuries sustained in his side's 26-16 defeat by the Wildcats five days earlier but put his hand up to play and helped create two of their tries with superb passes out of the tackle.

"I got a text off him in the week saying 'I want to do a fitness test so don't rule me out'," Radford said.

"To put that show on sums up what he's done in the game. He dropped the ball with his first touch and he said to the boys it was the best thing that could have happened because he was going to kill it for the next 79 minutes."

Hull, who had lost their four previous league and cup matches, could never relax against spirited opponents and Radford admitted it was with a sense of relief that he greeted the final whistle.

"I'm very relieved," he said. "It's been a tough time. The manner of it wasn't great but it's a win and we can build on that."

Radford also singled out young centre Jack Logan who was brought in for his first appearance for three months in the absence of Kirk Yeaman and responded with two of Hull's six tries.

"Jack was outstanding," Radford said. "His energy was top drawer, he took his chance with both hands."

Marc Sneyd had an off day with the boot on his return from a two-match ban, succeeding with just three of his seven attempts at goal, but Radford was delighted to see him renew his half-back partnership with Leon Pryce.

"The fluency they brought was there for all to see," Radford added. "It highlights how important they are to the group, what they bring in terms of talk and communication. I'm really pleased to see them back on the field."

Injury woes

Wakefield coach Brian Smith, who introduced nine new faces from the team that won the first encounter between the teams only five days earlier, said his hand was forced by injury.

"Only two of them were not injured, everyone else was busted," said Smith. "I didn't get to rest the ones I wanted to."

New Zealand full-back Kevin Locke was among the casualties, with a back problem, but second row forwards Ali Lauitiiti and Matty Ashurst both made their comeback from lengthy injury lay-offs and Smith gave a debut to new signing Anthony Walker as well as rare outings to teenagers Max Jowitt and Jordan Crowther.

"Six or seven of them were playing their first games for a long time, including Anthony Walker, who was playing for the first time since having a knee reconstruction and he did pretty well on his debut," Smith said.

"We didn't get a lot of team work or precision but it would have been ridiculous to expect that, most of them not having played together before.

"At times it was quite inspirational the way worked for each other.

"The biggest difference between this afternoon and last Wednesday was the 8-4 penalty count. The interpretation of the ruck not the same and I'm very disappointed with that.

"They had 12 extra sets in the game and that eventually took its toll."