Hull

Betfred Super League

Warrington (22) 34

Tries: Webster, Harrison, Ashton 2, Walker, Philbin Goals: Irwin 5

Hull KR (0) 12

Tries: Gildart, Batchelor Goals: Martin 2

Sin-bin: Lewis (72)

Warrington Wolves rediscovered their early-season form to dominate reigning Super League champions Hull KR and move within two points of second place.

Three defeats in their previous four games had cast doubts over Wire’s play-off credentials but they made light of those fears as tries from Lachlan Webster, James Harrison, Matty Ashton and Danny Walker put them virtually out of sight by the break.

Joe Philbin celebrated his return to action with another in the second half and, after Oliver Gildart had hit back, Ashton took his Warrington try tally to two on the night and 101 in total with a late second score.

Defeat left the Robins, who have now lost three of the last four, in danger of falling out of the top six, with rivals Leigh Leopards kicking off later.

Both sides badly needed a win to reinvigorate their respective flagging bids for the play-offs, with Robins boss Willie Peters conceding before the game that defeat would probably end their defence of the League Leaders’ Shield which they won in such style last summer.

There was little sign of that panache at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, as they began well but misfired at crucial moments, and 19-year-old Wolves full-back Webster punished them with his first Super League try.

Harrison cut through an out-of-sorts defence to extend the lead and, after Hull KR’s Mikey Lewis had been brilliantly held up in-goal by Albert Hopoate, Ashton bagged his 100th try for the club.

Walker was soon in support to score another after Toafofoa Sipley had raced through a gaping hole in the visitors’ defence.

The Robins tried to raise their game at the start of the second half but Wire again soaked it up and hit back as Philbin, back after being out injured for five games, took the lead to 28-0.

Gildart made use of a brilliant Jack Broadbent pass to finally get the away side on the scoreboard, but Lewis’ mounting frustration finally boiled over as he was sin-binned for a late challenge on Ewan Irwin, who kicked the resulting penalty.

Ashton added his second try of the afternoon before James Batchelor notched a late consolation for the visitors.

Warrington: Webster; Ashton, King, J Smith, Hopoate; Irwin, Hayes; Byrne, Walker, Thomas, Holroyd, Harrison, Currie

Interchanges: Sipley, Bentley, Philbin, Tanginoa.

Hull KR: Mourgue; Davies, Martin, Gildart, Booth; Lewis, May; Sue, Litten, Hadley, Lawton, Batchelor, Minchella.

Interchanges: Amone, Broadbent, Luckley, Dezaria.

Referee: Liam Moore

Hull KR head coach Willie Peters told BBC Radio Humberside:

“I’m very disappointed. We need to look at what happened. I need to be accountable, players need to be accountable, staff need to be accountable.

“I’m not bothered about the scoreboard, I’m bothered about performance. That was a really, really poor performance.

“We got back at half-time to 6-6, we had an opportunity to put pressure on in the second half, but we didn’t do that. It was our doing.

“We had ill discipline, yellow cards. It hurts. The refereeing decisions are not my concern – my concern is my team and that performance.”

Hull KR: Hampshire, Davies, Hiku, Gildart, Burgess, Lewis, May, Sue, Lawton, Whitbread, Martin, Batchelor, Minchella

Interchanges: Litten, Broadbent, Luckley, Dezaria

Wakefield: Rourke, Walsmsley, Scott, Tate, Johnstone, Trueman, Smoothy, McMeeken, Smith, Rodwell, Storton, Vagana, Tevaga

Interchanges: Pitts, Hamlin-Uele, Faatili, Lawford

Referee: Chris Kendall.

A UK city that is often overlooked and at the centre of brutal jokes could welcome back a beloved lido following concerns over open-water deaths amid the balmy heatwaves

A UK city that has often been ridiculed is planning to restore its mega lido after it was demolished almost 40 years ago.

For countless years, Hull has been the subject of mockery, partly due to its previous reputation as one of the ‘UK’s worst places to live’ and its sharp industrial decline in the fishing and shipping industries. Even those who have never visited the East Yorkshire city find themselves going along with the unfair narrative, despite its significant progress.

Today, the city, officially called Kingston upon Hull, boasts lively independent bars, restaurants, art galleries, and hidden gems dotted along the waterside, as well as the mega amphitheatre Stage@TheDock. It’s also home to one of the ‘UK’s best wildlife attractions’, The Deep, a colossal aquarium with more than 3,500 marine animals. It has ahistoric quarter, the Old Town, with cobbled lanes, medieval architecture and museums.

Proving just how far it’s come as a city, Hull was named as one of the ‘best places in the world to travel to in 2026’ by National Geographic, and was the only UK destination to make the acclaimed list. And there’s much more to come from the city, with proposed plans to welcome back its once thriving lido.

During the summer months, the open-air swimming pool in East Park, which opened in 1964, was a haven for locals looking for a refreshing dip. But after 24 years, the lido closed in 1985 and was demolished in 1988.

While East Park maintains a children’s water play area, an Animal Education Centre, the Pavilion Cafe, a boat house, play areas and an outdoor gym today, its former lido is still yearned for. Even more so now, in the hope of providing another safe, outdoor swimming environment after tragic events unfolded during the UK’s recent hot weather, which has seen at least 18 people die in open water.

Now, the local council in Hull has agreed to look into the prospect of restoring the former lido in East Park. According to the BBC, Councillor Jessica Smith said: “As the weather gets warmer, we see the same tragic stories repeated year after year. Open water is unforgiving; it doesn’t matter how confident you are, it doesn’t matter how fit you are.”

The proposal, put forward by Jessica during Drowning Prevention Week, has been supported by Councillor Kalvin Neal, who noted that it might need to be relocated. “Although it is something that could be looked at, potentially that isn’t the best place, it could be somewhere else that might be better,” he commented.

It would undoubtedly be a welcome addition back to Hull, with the city’s only council-run lido located at Albert Avenue Pools and Fitness. This outdoor heated swimming pool, which was opened in 2023 after a £10.5 million refurbishment, is available to use from May to September, and has proven to be a huge success in the city.

On swimming safety, Cllr Jessica previously commented: “As local councillors we have a duty to do our best to provide safe swimming facilities and adequate education to our young people,” as reported by Hull Live.

“In a city surrounded by water and home to many lakes, drains and other bodies of water, this is a crucial issue for our communities this summer.” Councillor George Grozav is seconding the proposal. “Every death in open water is a tragedy, and far too many of these incidents involve children and young people.”

Do you have a travel story to share? Email webtravel@reachplc.com

Hull KR: Broadbent; Davies, Hiku, Gildart, Booth; Lewis, Hampshire; Sue, Lawton, Hadley, Whitbread, Martin, Minchella.

Interchanges: Litten, Amone, Luckley, Brown.

Wigan: Cartwright; Lowe, F Yeomans, O’Loughlin, Daniel; Marsden, C Yeomans; Eseh, Forber, McDermott, Daniels, Mason, Kerr.

Interchanges: Mago, McMillan, O’Connor, Rathbone.

Referee: Aaron Moore

It has not been a straightforward two seasons in English football for the forward.

He joined the East Yorkshire club from Portuguese outfit Farense in August 2024 and enjoyed a decent start only for an anterior cruciate ligament injury at Oxford in November to end his season.

By the time he returned to action last August the club had sacked both Tim Walter and his replacement Ruben Selles and brought in Jakirovic.

Understandably after such a serious injury it took him time to get back up to speed and two hamstring injuries have kept him out for four months of this campaign.

He started Friday’s goalless first leg and hit the post after just two minutes but Jakirovic said he began Monday’s game on the bench as he had not been able to train since.

“He was very tired and had fatigue in both his hamstrings and Achilles so the plan was to give him the second half,” Jakirovic told BBC Radio Humberside.

“It was a great substitution and a great decision. Now I am very smart, if they do nothing I am stupid. It’s always like this.

“This group of players is unbelievable with the chemistry between them.”

Skipper Lewie Coyle was also full of praise for the match-winner and the club’s medical staff.

“He’s incredible. We are so lucky that we’ve got so many players that can come on and impact the game,” he said.

“We all know what that boy’s about. I’m so pleased for him.

“He’s had an incredibly tough injury but it says a lot about him and the recovery team that he’s come back as he has.”

Wrexham’s dream of reaching the Premier League is over, for this season anyway.

And for Ryan Reynolds, it was tough to stomach.

“I am completely gutted by today’s result but incredibly proud of our season,” the actor wrote on X after the Welsh club he co-owns missed out on a place in the playoffs in the second-tier Championship by drawing 2-2 with Middlesbrough in a dramatic final round of the regular season on Saturday.

That allowed Hull to jump ahead of Wrexham and into sixth place — the fourth and final spot in the playoffs — courtesy of a 2-1 win over Norwich in a match played at the same time.

The winning goal for Hull, by Oli McBurnie in the 67th, appeared to be scored from an offside position but there are no video reviews in the English Football League.

It ended Wrexham’s unprecedented run of three straight promotions under its famous owners — a streak that began by getting out of the fifth tier in the 2022-23 season and has been documented in the globally popular, Emmy Award-winning “Welcome to Wrexham” series.

Still, seventh place marked the Wrexham’s highest finish in its history, bettering the 15th position it achieved in the second tier in the 1978–79 season.

“We’ve come a long way in five years and this was the best result in our 150+ year history,” Reynolds wrote alongside a graphic that showed how Wrexham has risen from the National League. “More to do. But for now, we have so much to be proud of, Reds.”

Elsewhere, Ipswich secured the second automatic promotion spot behind champion Coventry — and an immediate return to the Premier League — by beating Queens Park Rangers 3-0.

Ipswich is owned by U.S. investment group Gamechanger 20 Limited and counts pop star Ed Sheeran as a minority shareholder.

Joining Hull in the playoffs, which begin next week and are over two legs, are Millwall, Southampton and Middlesbrough.

Millwall will face Hull, and Southampton will meet Middlesbrough.

Best-ever finish by Wrexham

It was a memorable campaign by Wrexham in its first season in the second tier since the 1980s.

However, the short-term pain was acute, and Wrexham’s players sat on the ground and looked disconsolate after the final whistle — even though the Hull-Norwich match hadn’t finished.

Wrexham started the day in sixth place, ahead of Hull on goal difference, and conceded in the fourth minute to Middlesbrough, only to score through Josh Windass and Sam Smith for a 2-1 lead by the 41st.

Middlesbrough hit back immediately with a 43rd-minute equalizer but Wrexham finished the stronger, squandering a string of great late chances for a winner that would have secured a playoff place on goal difference.

Wrexham’s Josh Windass squats on the field and looks dejected following a draw with Middlesbrough on Saturday.

(Michael Steele / Getty Images)

In the end, Wrexham finished two points behind Hull.

“This squad as it stands, with a preseason together, will be even stronger next year,” said Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson, who oversaw a summer spend of around $40 million last year.

“Of course we’ll always look to add to that to try and give ourselves an even better chance … we know where we’d like to strengthen and what we need to improve on. We’ll do that and we’ll make this squad as strong as we possibly can to mount a challenge next year.”

Douglas writes for the Associated Press.