Hull FC have made a habit of saving their best performances for the Challenge Cup in recent years and while this latest display was not quite of the level which saw them win rugby league’s most prestigious competition in 2016 and 2017, it was evident quite early on here that it would be enough to ensure progression to the quarter-finals once again.
In truth Lee Radford’s side had barely to break sweat for large periods to see off a Castleford side that are displaying form rarely seen on Daryl Powell’s watch. This was the first time they have lost four successive games in the same season under Powell: in the week of the six-year anniversary since his appointment.
The damage was done in a 10-minute spell in which Castleford conceded 20 unanswered points without touching the ball. Peter Mata’utia had kicked the Tigers into an early lead with a penalty but, after Marc Sneyd converted Jake Connor’s try and then kicked a penalty in the following set, the visitors completely capitulated. “I think it would be belittling amateurs, comparing them to some stuff we’ve done tonight,” was how Powell summed up the performance.
Mata’utia’s kick-off following Sneyd’s penalty which made it 8-2 went out on the full - and Hull took full advantage when Bureta Faraimo scored. Inexplicably Mata’utia’s next kick-off also went out on the full and once again, the hosts made Castleford pay, this time when Sneyd’s crossfield kick found Albert Kelly. With Sneyd converting both to make it 20-2, not even James Clare’s try in the moments before half-time left any lingering possibility of a comeback from such an out-of-sorts Tigers side.
“That swagger, we seem to find it in the cup,” Radford said afterwards. “The cup seems to bring something out of us.” Powell was, understandably, far less complimentary. “Some individuals were that far off they were in another stratosphere. That is as bad as I’ve seen us play in a long time.”
Even though Castleford at least performed marginally better after the break, the damage had been done. Another penalty from Sneyd opened up a three-score lead once again, making it 22-8. And, though Cory Aston’s try in the final minutes provided some semblance of consolation for the visitors, Mark Minichiello had ensured a deserved victory for Hull four minutes earlier.
