Andy Last on consistency, refereeing decisions and improvements

Andy Last praised his team for showing better consistency throughout the game during Hull’s victory over Huddersfield on Tuesday evening.

The 18-16 win over the Giants kept the Black and Whites’ slim hopes of a top four finish alive.

Marc Sneyd’s late penalty goal proved decisive at the Halliwell Jones Stadium and Last praised both sides for putting on a great spectacle.

“It was a tough game with two desperate teams,” said Last. “I thought the first half was a high quality game.

“The ball was in play a lot and both teams completed at a high rate. We were at 90% and I think Huddersfield were on 80% in that first half.

“The boys at half-time spoke just how good the game was, not many stoppages or breaks in play so that was exactly what we needed, because we spoke about having to win a game and going for 80 minutes.

“I thought over the 80 minutes there were some good bits and others where we need to improve on.

“But I am glad we were more consistent over the 80 minutes tonight.”

Despite coming out on top in Warrington, Last still questioned a number of debatable calls throughout the game which he felt did not go his team’s way.

He said: “I was disappointed with the Josh Griffin ‘no try’. On video, Keiron Purtill spotted that Ashton Golding falls out of the line a little bit early on that short side.

“I felt as though we could have come up with a bit of play to go over again as I thought we executed perfectly and exploited that little hole, but Ligi Sao gets pulled back for obstruction.

“That is what the video referee is there for. They should have gone to the screen for a check of obstruction so I was a bit disappointed by that call.

“As for when Carlos Tuimavave was disallowed his in the second half, I have seen them given but it is what it is.”

Last did end by recognising the challenging job referees have and believes that his side will have some calls go their way as the season progresses.

“I did not think we got the bounce of the ball and I thought there were a couple of decisions that left me scratching my head, but the officials have a tough enough job as it is.

“It is about the swings and roundabouts that even each other out over the course of the season, but I am glad it did not impact on the result.

“We were able to get that late penalty and Marc Sneyd does what he does best, cool under pressure and slots over the goals.”