AFP/Hull

Hull FC coach Lee Radford admitted the triumph over champions St Helens tasted even sweeter in the aftermath of his side’s recent derby defeat.
Injury-ravaged St Helens were forced to hand teenagers Ricky Bailey and Jack Ashworth their first starts and Hull took advantage to score a morale-boosting Super League win on Monday.
A Tommy Makinson try and goal, allied to Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook’s effort, saw St Helens take a first half lead, but Jamie Shaul and Curtis Naughton crossed for Hull to keep it close.
Leon Pryce and Jordan Turner swapped tries in the second half before one-time South Sydney Rabbitoh Fetuli Talanoa edged Hull ahead and Shaul grabbed his second to seal a 28-20 victory.
The win came on the back of their loss to Hull KR in the 224th city derby and Radford could not hide his delight.
“I am really pleased for the group, the team and the owner,” he said.
“It has been a really difficult camp from Thursday’s result and the manner of the defeat. “On the back of that disappointment, to pull ourselves off the canvas like we did, was impressive.
“It is a little bit of a war of attrition and it tends to be the team that wants it most that takes the spoils.”
Elsewhere on Monday, Warrington Wolves coach Tony Smith conceded his side had taken another knock to their confidence after losing their fourth consecutive game in a 22-14 defeat to Castleford Tigers. Stefan Ratchford and Ryan Atkins scored tries for Wolves after Jordan Tansey’s opener but Luke Dorn levelled things up.
Ben Roberts and Adam Milner then followed over in the second half, with Kevin Penny’s late try proving scant consolation for Warrington. “They didn’t have to do an awful lot with the ball and we made too many errors,” said Smith.
“We’re down on a bit of confidence and some things we’ve normally done in the past aren’t quite sticking.
“It’s just about hard work, we have to stick with it and keep working hard—it’ll come around.”

Costly inaccuracy
Shaun Wane said inaccuracy cost his Wigan Warriors side dearly as the afterglow of their victory over St Helens was quickly dimmed with a 24-18 loss to Salford Red Devils.
Wigan gained some measure of revenge for their 2014 Grand Final defeat by beating the Saints 12-4, but finished the weekend in fifth after an impressive Reds performance.
Ben Jones-Bishop scored the pick of Salford’s tries with a solo burst, while Niall Evalds (2) and Michael Dobson also found their way over the whitewash.
Salford forward and former Parramatta Eel Weller Hauraki, already in trouble with the league for a high tackle at Huddersfield Giants, and Warrior John Batemen were sent off late on for their involvement in a brawl.
“Friday was tough and took a lot out of us, but the best team won and we didn’t test them enough,” Wane said.
“I think we were a little bit dumb with the ball but could still have won it if we’d been a bit smarter. “The red card incident seemed like a lot of blokes running in and doing nothing before the red cards. I will have to look at it in detail.”