It has been a season of controversy, injuries and mishap for Hull, but with players returning, their luck changing and Richard Agar, a young British coach proving a breath of fresh air during his ten matches in charge, the black and whites yesterday reached a first Challenge Cup final at Wembley since the 1985 classic against Wigan.

A battling Wakefield Wildcats were left vanquished in an edgy semi-final in Doncaster, ensuring that Agar will follow in the footsteps of his father 25 years after Allan Agar inspired Featherstone Rovers to one of the great cup upsets against Hull. Young Richard would invite his friends to play in the street for the trophy, which he also lifted as Hull's assistant coach against Leeds Rhinos in Cardiff in 2005.

He inherited a bruised and battered squad from Peter Sharp, who was dismissed in May, privately conceded that the engage Super League play-offs were an unlikely ambition and concentrated on restoring the team's confidence through the cup and derby fixtures, for which he got off the mark in trouncing Hull Kingston Rovers a fortnight ago. The quarter-final win away at Bradford Bulls provided the impetus for a revival in the club's fortunes. “I've been wearing the same lucky underpants for the last seven weeks,” Agar revealed.

There was also the furore over Hull fielding an ineligible player in two previous cup wins, but only curmudgeons would deny them their place against St Helens on August 30, after the £100,000 partially suspended fine by the RFL for fielding the unregistered Jamie Thackray in the fourth and fifth-round defeats of Rochdale Hornets and Widnes Vikings.

They will start as clear underdogs, but as Danny Tickle slickly demonstrated with his two tries and six goals, Adam Dykes underlined with a cultured display at scrum half and Agar said afterwards: “We're undoubtedly going to have to play better to beat St Helens, but I take comfort when I look through our side and mark who has played in Super League and NRL Grand Finals, Challenge Cup finals, State of Origin and internationals.”

As bravely as Wakefield fought from 18-0 down in the opening 12 minutes, Hull always held the lead and had the leaders on the pitch to steer them home. If the game lacked quality, it never wanted for excitement. Hull had the edge in the key positions and in the towering contributions of Garreth Carvell and Peter Cusack, for all that Danny Brough, Wakefield's playmaker, kept plugging away and Tevita Leo-Latu performed his whirling dervish act in a pink headguard.

Unfortunately, their left-sided defence crumbled under Dykes's early aerial bombardment. The scrum half twice connected with Tickle for tries, both stemming from Gareth Raynor pressurising Matt Petersen, his opposite wing, in the air.

Danny Washbrook's mazy running opening up a gap for Graeme Horne to brush past Brough was greeted by a premature chorus of “We're going to Wembley” by Hull fans.

Ryan Atkins smuggled the ball clear of a posse of defenders to release Petersen and get Wakefield off the mark. If there was a suspicion of the delivery being forward, there was no doubt about Brough directing a perfect crossfield kick into the arms of Damien Blanch. Brough's conversion made it 18-10, but it was one of only of two successful kicks from his six attempts.

Wakefield were also undermined by ill-discipline and poor ball control near their posts. When Oliver Wilkes butterfingered a pass, Cusack rode over the top of Brett Ferres's desperate last tackle. Tries by Leo-Latu and Atkins, again unconverted, brought the Wildcats to within four points, but Washbrook's dive to touch down Dykes's grubber kick was decisive in the 43rd minute, despite Blanch adding a second try and being denied a third.

Scorers: Wakefield Wildcats: Tries: Petersen, Blanch 2, Leo-Latu, Atkins. Goals: Brough 2. Hull: Tries: Tickle 2, Horne, Cusack, Washbrook. Goals: Tickle 6.

Wakefield Wildcats: P Reilly; D Blanch, J Demetriou, R Atkins, M Petersen; D Brough, B Drew; D Sculthorpe, S Obst, R Moore, B Ferres, D MacGillivray, J Golden. Interchange: R Bibey, K Henderson, O Wilkes, T Leo-Latu.

Hull: M Sing; G Raynor, G Horne, K Yeaman, T Briscoe; D Washbrook, A Dykes; E Dowes, S Berrigan, J Thackray, W Manu, D Tickle, L Radford. Interchange: G Carvell, P Cusack, C Hall, D Houghton.

Referee: R Silverwood.