Hull claimed pole position in the race for fourth spot in the engage Super League courtesy of a comprehensive win over Warrington at the KC Stadium.

The two sides were tied on 22 points ahead of kick-off - a statistic not represented by their respective performances - and although third place still is not mathematically out of reach for either, the likelihood is the best they can do is finish fourth and claim home advantage for the play-offs.

Warrington led 14-12 a minute from the break but Shaun Briscoe's try sent Hull in 18-14 ahead, before Gareth Raynor struck the killer blow a minute into the second-half. From there, Hull never looked back clocking up eight tries in total while Paul Wood's 63rd minute dismissal did not help Warrington's cause.

In a patchy opening, Martin Gleeson wasted the field position Lee Briers had created with a 40-20 kick, and Briers then failed to find touch with the game's opening penalty.

The two made no mistake in the 13th minute though, when, allied with Jon Clarke, they combined and Gleeson opened the scoring in the corner, cushioning the blow of Chris Bridge's seventh-minute withdrawal through injury.

Any chance they had of extending their lead soon passed though as they conceded four penalties in as many minutes, the last of which was punished to full effect by Willie Manu.

The second-row forward has been the star of Hull's recent revival and, despite having Brent Grose ahead of him when he collected Matthew Head's 23rd-minute pass, there was little doubt that he would touch down.

Raynor then turned the game twice, albeit once inadvertently. His first telling contribution was to score his first home try of the season after a Craig Hall pass, the second was to hand Henry Fa'afili his 18th score of the season.

He allowed a innocuous Briers kick to bounce in goal but then, with a naivety that belied his three Great Britain caps did so again, which offered the Kiwi enough time to snaffle the loose ball and score.

His 19th try was not slow in coming either. Just two minutes later, Richard Whiting spilt an easy ball and, from the next set Fa'afili made light work of fending off both Raynor and Hall to cross. After allowing Ben Westwood to take and fail the former conversion, Briers made light work of slotting the latter from the touchline.

Briscoe, returning from two months out with a broken jaw, ensured Hull were ahead at the break though, reaching Motu Tony's kick ahead of Stuart Reardon.

The game then firmly swung in Hull's direction in a compelling opening minute to the second-half. Andy Bracek first had a try ruled out for a knock-on after Garreth Carvell had handed him possession, only for Hall to spill the ball after racing the length of the field in broken play.

Warrington then immediately returned the favour, before Raynor put an end to the sloppiness when he collected Tickle's superb cut-out pass to cross in the corner.

Carvell - also returning from a lengthy injury - then stretched out a hand to add a further score before Tony grabbed a deserved try when he ducked under the posts from close range.

With Head tearing the visiting defence apart with his range of passing, the Wolves were visibly deflated, a fact emphasised by Wood becoming the fourth player to see red this season for a high-shot on Scott Wheeldon.

Tony then added his second try a minute later, before Richard Horne collected a neat ball from Washbrook to canter over as the floodgates opened.

To Warrington's credit, they did show resilience for the final 10 minutes, but the damage had already been done.