Castleford 24-22 Hull FC: Leaders survive Hull fightback

Match stats: Castleford 24-22 Hull FC

Castleford tries: Gale (11), McMeeken (22), Hardaker (39)
Castleford goals: Gale (8, 11, 22, 39, 51, 70) 

Hull FC tries: Fonua (6, 66), Talanoa (72, 77)
Hull FC goals: Sneyd (66, 72, 77) 

Match report

Revenge was sweet for Castleford as they held off a late fightback to beat third-placed Hull 24-22 to pull eight points clear at the top of the Betfred Super League with just three games left of the regular season.

The Tigers are showing no signs of slowing up in their search for a first league title as they avenged their recent Challenge Cup defeat as well as one of only three league losses so far this year.

However, the runaway leaders lived dangerously after establishing a 22-4 lead only to concede three tries in the final 15 minutes and in the end were indebted to the expert marksmanship of Luke Gale, who kicked six goals from as many attempts.

Hull actually began the more impressively, dominating their hosts through the physicality of their forwards, and took a sixth-minute lead thanks to a nice piece of skill from centre Jake Connor, whose flicked inside pass got winger Mahe Fonua over for the first of his two tries.

Castleford needed a stroke of luck to open their account, Gale pouncing on a stray pass from former team-mate Marc Sneyd to score an opportunist try on 11 minutes, but from then on gradually began to take control of the game.

Gale converted his own try to give his side a lead they never looked like relinquishing as the introduction of Larne Patrick and Gadwin Springer from the bench enabled them to gain the upper hand in the forward battle.

The Tigers swooped on another error from their visitors, second rower Mike McMeeken gifted a try after Hull winger Fetuli Talanoa fumbled Gale's crossfield kick, and they demonstrated the vast improvement in their defence to hold their opponents out for five consecutive sets of five tackles inside their own 20-metre area.

Having soaked up all the pressure, Castleford then struck a decisive blow two minutes before half-time, with full-back Zak Hardaker scooping up the ball from a grubber kick by his opposite number Jamie Shaul and scorching 60 metres through a fragmented defence for a glorious solo try.

Gale's fourth goal made it 20-4 at the break and he stretched the lead with a second penalty early in the second half as Hull began to lose their discipline.

The game entered a period of stalemate as both sides lost their focus but Hull re-grouped in time to produce a strong finish.

Loose forward Sika Manu had a try disallowed for a knock-on in the build-up but there was no stopping Fonua as he gathered a deflected pass to grab his second try on 65 minutes.

Gale re-established a two-score lead with a third penalty but Sneyd's quick thinking at the re-start earned them a goal-line drop-out and full-back Jamie Shaul worked Talanoa over at the corner for his first try.

Hull then produced a carbon-copy move for Talanoa to come up with an even more spectacular dive for his second try and Sneyd added his third goal to close the gap to just two points.

But the visitors ran out of time to finish the job. 

Match reaction

Castleford coach Daryl Powell on surviving Hull's fightback:  "It almost feels like we've lost, the way we were clinging on. I thought in the first half we were excellent. We played a patient game, only made one error and built a score. At the start of second half we looked in full control.

"It's funny how games flip. We lost control and the flow of the game changed. It was pretty painful to watch. It's one of the most uncomfortable scorelines to have.

"I thought we looked nervous and made some poor calls. Too many errors hurt us but ultimately we won the game and learnt some lessons. We're eight points clear so we've got to be happy with that. It was uncomfortable but we managed to get over the line." 

Hull coach Lee Radford on challenging for top spot:  "It's now a massive task but it's catchable because we've got so much improvement in us. It was one versus two in the table and there was nothing in it. To get so narrowly beat today is encouraging.

"We lost because we didn't click into gear until it was too late. Defensively I thought we were really sharp but the errors after half-time really hurt us. That's the frustrating thing, the fact we didn't play so smart with the ball. We got that in the last 15 minutes but it took us 65 minutes.

"I know how much more offensively we've got in the tank. We need a huge improvement with the ball next week."