As Castleford opened up the eight-point gap at the top of Super League which looks increasingly impregnable as the season progresses, there were perhaps two crucial lessons learned. The first is that it is going to take something quite remarkable for any side to beat Castleford on their own patch; the last to do so were Warrington almost a year ago.
Hull, the side who have caused the Tigers more problems than anyone so far this season, rightly arrived here with expectation, rather than hope, that they could become the first visiting team to win in Castleford in 2017.
And while they ultimately left West Yorkshire with the same fate as the other nine sides who have tried and failed to beat the league leaders here, they left with the firm belief that they are unquestionably the biggest threat of all to Daryl Powell’s side – and genuine Grand Final contenders to boot following a thrilling fightback.
“They’ve beaten us twice and nearly fashioned another tonight,” Powell admitted. “They’ve got a lot of quality about them but we’ve won the game, we’re eight points clear now and we’ve learned a lot of lessons again.” The damage for Hull was done in a disastrous first half; by that stage, they trailed 20-4 through a combination of their own errors and some brutal, clinical finishing from the Tigers, who took advantage of FC’s inability to keep hold of the ball.
Better teams have fallen apart here in the face of deficits such as that this season – but not this Hull side. They rallied, and even threatened a remarkable comeback with two late tries from the winger, Fetuli Talanoa. By the end Castleford were desperate for the full-time hooter and the two points which stretch their lead at the summit to eight. As buffers go, that is as commanding as they come: and six wins from their final 10 games – including five more at home – will almost certainly secure top spot.
“It will be a massive task to catch that now but it is catchable,” said Lee Radford, the Hull coach whose side are now nine adrift of the Tigers. “We’ll be striving to catch them still. We’ve shown we can defend against them and they didn’t dent us all night.”
Hull actually led when a fine pass from Jake Connor put Mahe Fonua in for the opening try but Castleford responded superbly. Luke Gale pounced on a poor Hull error to kick on and touch down, before his own kick was fumbled by Talanoa and Mike McMeeken collected to go over.
Castleford’s defensive efforts in reply were equally impressive and they laid the platform for what felt like the game’s defining moment, when Zak Hardaker broke from deep to score a scintillating individual try of the kind which has many suggesting he could become Man of Steel once again this season.
From there it felt as if it would be routine: but tries from Fonua and a well-taken brace from Talanoa in the final quarter created a grandstand finale and for a moment it looked as if Hull would do the impossible before they ran out of time. Then, cue the usual Mend-A-Hose Jungle celebrations. Cue Sweet Caroline blaring almost deafeningly out of the PA systems. But this time there will have been an extra tinge of relief in them. Castleford know they were given a real scare.
Castleford Hardaker; Hitchcox, Webster, Shenton, Eden; Roberts, Gale; Sene-Lefao, McShane, Millington, Foster, McMeeken, Milner. Interchange Massey, Springer, Patrick, Holmes.
Tries Gale, McMeeken, Hardaker. Goals Gale 6.
Hull Shaul; Fonua, Connor, Griffin, Talanoa; Kelly, Sneyd; Bowden, Houghton, Watts, Minichiello, Washbrook, Manu. Interchange Fash, Thompson, Taylor, Turgut.
Tries Fonua 2, Talanoa 2. Goals Sneyd 3.
Referee C Kendall.
Attendance 8,371.
