Jon Wilkin slams ‘outrageous’ decision to deny Lewis Martin try in Hull derby

Sky Sports pundit Jon Wilkin has insisted that the decision to disallow Lewis Martin’s try at a crucial point of Friday’s Hull derby was ‘outrageous’.

Hull trailed by just four points before Martin appeared to ground the ball in the corner under pressure during the early stages of the second half at Craven Park. That would have made it 10-10 with a kick for Zak Hardaker to put the Black and Whites ahead for the first time in the contest.

However, after a lengthy delay, video referee Liam Rush decided that Martin had dropped the ball in the act of grounding it, with there deemed to be separation between the winger’s hand and the ball as it hit the surface.

But that was a decision Wilkin disagreed with in the immediate aftermath of the game, telling Sky Sports he felt the decision was ‘outrageous’ – as was the amount of time it took for the call to be made.

Wilkin said: “I think it’s an outrageous decision for a number of reasons.

“One is that it took nearly two minutes to get to the point for the video referee to decide to review it. If, after two minutes, he was still requesting more camera angles and wanting to see other angles of it.. it’s gone up as a try, which is crucial, and there is zero evidence on all of these angles that there is separation.

“The angle the referee claimed showed it (separation) doesn’t show it and after two minutes he’s still asking for more, I thought it was outrageous.”

Hull boss John Cartwright was slightly more reserved in his assessment of the moment on Sky Sports but admitted it was a pivotal point in the contest. His side would go on to lose 24-6.

Cartwright said: “I think at the end of the day we were just poor in the first half with the wind at our back. They’re the world champions and we had to be near our best. I was happy with how they fought and if we get that try out in the corner, we’re 10-10 and with a bit of momentum.”