Tom Lineham scored two interception tries in an eye-catching hat-trick as Hull FC beat Widnes 22-8 to make it back-to-back wins for the first time since last June.

Lineham scored a treble in a losing cause at Castleford last month but his efforts on Friday night settled a drab contest at the KC Stadium.

The 22-year-old winger showed good opportunism and no little speed on two occasions to pluck passes out of the air and race over 90 metres to add to his early opener. The hat-trick puts him out in front as Super League's most prolific finisher in 2015.

Jamie Shaul went over late on to make sure of the two competition points for Hull, with tries from Kevin Brown and Patrick Ah Van unable to prevent Widnes from falling to a fifth away defeat out of five.

It was a third match in nine days for both sides, although Widnes had reason to feel more hard done by after their Easter Monday trip to Catalans.

Ah Van had an early opportunity to give the Vikings an extra spring in their step but a foot in touch saw his effort ruled out, although Rhys Hanbury's pass was forward in any case.

There was no doubt when Lineham slid over in the corner at the other end after Shaul had spun out of a tackle and found his winger with a nice cut-out pass.

The Vikings were defending doggedly near their own line to prevent a second Hull try when Stefan Marsh and Chris Dean were both forced off following a sickening clash of heads.

Lineham had a good chance to lay the platform for another Hull raid following a break down the right but his pass was intercepted by former Black and Whites hooker Aaron Heremaia.

Widnes worked their way downfield and were back level when Brown, whose high kick in the build-up appeared to have gone forward off Ah Van, forced the ball down from dummy half.

The Vikings lost a third player as Lloyd White hobbled off, but they thought they had edged in front when Joe Mellor touched down his own dab through, only for the video referee to correctly rule a knock-on.

What might have been a half-time lead turned into a six-point deficit as Lineham intercepted Brown's pass and raced 95 metres for a try which took him level with Castleford's Justin Carney on nine for the season.

And he was out on his own as leading try scorer when he repeated the trick just after the break, Hanbury the victim on this occasion as he tried to find Ah Van 10 metres from the Hull line.

Lineham almost turned provider on the hour mark but his wild pass could not be taken in by Shaul. Jordan Rankin was then wide with a 40-metre penalty attempt after play had been brought back for a shoulder charge by Eamon O'Carroll.

But Hull did not have to wait too much longer for their next points as Rankin's grubber kick hit a post and sat up perfectly for Shaul to slide over.

Widnes, who saw Gil Dudson held up over the line earlier in the half, gave themselves some hope when Ah Van finished spectacularly in the corner, but it proved no more than a consolation.