Castleford breathed a collective sigh of relief last night as relegation rivals Wakefield Trinity’s winning run came to an end at the hands of fellow West Yorkshire side, the Huddersfield Giants leaving the door open for them to increase the points gap to four if they could travel to west Hull and take the points off a Black and Whites side who themselves needed the points to keep alive their faint hopes of the play-offs.
FC have emerged victorious from both encounters so far this season and they got a confidence boosting win over their arch enemy from across the city in the derby last Sunday, and the bookies made them big favourites to pile more misery on the Tigers in the Saturday afternoon kick off.
A perfect start for FC after a great kick to the corner from Jake Trueman was patted back by Liam Sutcliffe into the hands of Adam Swift to score in the corner. Jake Clifford was unable to add the conversion from wide.
The Tigers were back in it on eleven Elliott Wallis fooling Carlos Tuimavave to go in for the levelling score. Gareth Widdop added the conversion, Castleford taking the lead.
Tuimavave made amends on twenty as he stepped through a broken Tigers defence to regain the lead for the home side. Clifford was again unable to hit the mark with his conversion attempt, a narrow two-point lead.
Widdop’s boot levelled the scores on twenty-seven after the Tigers were awarded a penalty, it was looking like it would be close with neither side able to grab the game by its throat.
An attempted Jacob Miller drop goal was the last action of the half, but it was charged down and the two sides went in all square.
Three minutes after the restart Chris Satae took a pass from Brad Dwyer at acting half back to crash over the line. With a change of kicker, Liam Sutcliffe added the conversion for a 14-8 lead.
It was back-to-back tries for Hull when Satae broke the line and shrugged off several tacklers before finding Swift in support to sprint home for his second of the afternoon. A double whammy for the Tigers compounded by the Sutcliffe conversion.
Westerman was the creator for the second Castleford try on fifty was he broke downfield to put Jack Broadbent free to score. Widdop added the conversion, and the gap was back to a much more manageable six points.
Broadbent went from hero to zero as he dropped a spiralling kick off and handed possession back to the Airlie Birds. On the second play from the scrum Davy Litten found space left off a Dwyer pass to score in the corner. Sutcliffe didn’t find the target on this occasion.
A Trueman flick pass put Cam Scott in for the sixth Hull try of the afternoon as he touched down by the sticks. Sutcliffe added the extras for a 30-14 lead, the Tigers heading for another loss with twenty minutes remaining.
Scott got his second on sixty-six was he went through dreadful Tigers defending from Watts and Westerman to ground. Sutcliffe hit the mark again for 36-14, a commanding lead for the home side.
Some consolation for the Tigers on seventy when Bureta Faraimo crossed in the corner off a long pass. Widdop couldn’t add the extras from the touchline, Hull defending their eighteen point lead until the final hooter.
A poor game and another disappointing result for the Tigers but one which will delight Hull and their supporters. Trueman and Clifford bossed the game in the middle of the park as the backs filled their boots with points. Special mention to Satae for the Airlie Birds too as he ran his blood to water in the name of the cause. FC now level on points with the Leeds Rhinos but the Tigers still giving some hope to Wakefield.
Hull FC: Litten (T), Swift (2T), Sutcliffe (4G), Tuimavave (T), Barron, Trueman, Clifford, Fash, Houghton, Sao, Scott (2T), Savelio, Cator. Subs: Dwyer, Lane, Satae (T), Taylor. 18th Man: Lovodua.
Castleford Tigers: Widdop (2G), Faraimo (T), Fonua, Broadbent (T), Wallis (T), Dean, Miller, Watts, Johnstone, Vete, Mellor, Edwards, Westerman. Subs: Griffin, Sutcliffe, Mustapha, Hall. 18th Man: Robb.
Half-Time: 8-8.
Full-Time: 36-18.
Score Progression: 4-0, 4-4, 4-6, 8-6, 8-8 : HT: 12-8, 14-8, 18-8, 20-8, 20-12, 20-14, 24-14, 28-14, 30-14, 34-14, 36-14, 36-18 :FT.
Lead Exchanges: Hull FC – Square – Castleford – Hull FC – Square – Hull FC.
Referee: Marcus Griffiths.
