The Black & Whites reserved their best performance of the 2020 Betfred Super League season so far as they demolished Castleford Tigers 48-6 on their return to the KCOM Stadium.
The fixture lacked the atmosphere of a usual home game for the Black & Whites, but the lack of support in the stands didn’t prevent the hosts from turning on the style crossing the whitewash eight times against a lacklustre Castleford Tigers side.
The result saw interim head coach Andy Last claim victory on his very first appearance at the KCOM Stadium since taking the role in March.
Team News
Hull were boosted by the return of Manu Ma’u and Danny Houghton to the side.
Mahe Fonua and Albert Kelly, both of whom were named in the 21-man squad, ultimately missed out, with a whole host of other key names also still missing for Hull including Scott Taylor, Josh Jones and Masi Matongo.
The Match
The Black & Whites opened the scoring after just three minutes as Hull shifted the ball to the right edge, allowing space for Ratu Naulago to dive over acrobatically in the corner.
Hull’s fast paced start got even better when Andre Savelio powered over just minutes later, with his powerful drive to the line coming off a superb short ball from Joe Cator, as Savelio hit the gap to score his fourth try in five games.
FC made it three tries inside the first quarter of the game in an outstanding opening twenty minutes. Prolonged pressure on the Tigers line saw them come up with an error from a Marc Sneyd cross-field kick, with Jake Connor making the most of the error and touching down on his birthday.
Three successful conversions for Marc Sneyd saw the hosts lead 18-0 at the mid-way point of the half.
Thing got better and better for Andy Last’s side as the half progressed, with Bureta Faraimo crossing for his second try in two games, powering over close to the line after taking a Manu Ma’u offload.
HALF-TIME: Hull FC 24-0 Castleford Tigers
Hull continued the second-half in similar style to the first, with Ratu Naulago breaking away for an upstoabble seventy metre effort from deep within the Tigers half.
Hull earned their sixth try of the game on the back of an outstanding 40/20 from Jake Connor. The resulting set would see Danny Houghton sail over under the posts through a huge hole in the Tigers line.
The Tigers did manage to get a try on the board and avoid a nilling when Jaques O’Neil went over with eight minutes to play.
But there was still time for the Airlie Birds to inflict more misery on a lacklustre afternoon for the West Yorkshire side
Carlos Tuimavave danced his way over the line as Houghton went from try-scorer to provider, sending the ball to the centre who danced his way past flailing Tigers defenders.
And Hull put the cherry on the cake with the very last play of the game as Manu Ma’u made the most to a Tiger error from Sneyd’s cross-field kick to socre in the corner.
FULL-TIME: Hull FC 48-6 Castleford Tigers
Squads:
Hull FC: Jamie Shaul, Ratu Naulago, Carlos Tuimavave, Josh Griffin, Bureta Faraimo, Jake Connor, Marc Sneyd, Josh Bowden, Jordan Johnstone, Ligi Sao, Manu Ma’u, Andre Savelio, Joe Cator.
Interchange: Danny Houghton, Chris Satae, Brad Fash, Jack Brown.
Castleford Tigers: Gareth O’Brien, Jack Sanderson, Alex Foster, Michael Shenton, Bradley Graham, Jake Truman, Danny Richardson, Nathan Massey, Paul McShane, Tyla Hepi, Cheyse Blair, Mike McMeeken, Adam Milner.
Interchange: Grant Millington, Jesse Sene-Lefao, Jacques O’Neill, Matthew Cook
Scorers:
Hull FC Tries: Naulago (3,55), Savelio (6), Connor (20), Faraimo (25), Houghton (71), Tuimavave (79), Ma’u (80)
Hull FC Goals: Sneyd (7/7, Connor (1/1)
Castleford Tries: O’Neill (72)
Castleford Goals: Richardson (1/1)
Attendance: 0
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