Warrington Wolves exacted sweet revenge for their Wembley heartbreak by denying Hull FC the chance of the treble in the final round of the regular First Utility Super League season.
A 23-6 victory at the KCOM Stadium enabled the Wolves to lift the League Leaders’ Shield for the second time in six years and earn themselves home advantage in next week’s semi-finals against St Helens in their pursuit of a maiden Grand Final triumph.
Hull, who had hoped to gain their first top-of-the-table finish since 1983, will now be away to Wigan Warriors in the last four after a third defeat in four Super 8s matches since their Challenge Cup triumph condemned them to third place in the table.
Warrington had missed a glorious chance to secure top spot with a game to spare after squandering a big lead against Wigan a week earlier but this time made no mistake, surging into an early lead.
They led 10-0 at half-time as former Hull favourite Tom Lineham chased down a kick to touch down in his first appearance for two months, before fellow winger Kevin Penny doubled the score six minutes later.
Carlos Tuimavave pulled one back for the hosts after the break before Jamie Shaul spurred a golden chance to draw level when he passed to Scott Taylor with the line beckoning, and Hull were made to pay as Lineham pounced on a handling error to secure the win.
Wolves coach Tony Smith praised the attitude of Lineham after the winger returned to form emphatically.
“It was a great response from Tommy Lineham,” Smith said. “When he wasn’t getting picked, instead of sulking, he did something about it.
“He worked harder each and every week, coming in early and doing all the right things.”
He added: “Some people probably saw our team and wrote us off to some degree, but we didn’t.
“Some of the things that happened last week hurt us and we were a little bit sombre for a couple of days but the people who went out there did a great job.
“I thought the boys fought very hard, particularly defensively. We managed that game a whole lot better than on a few other occasions.”