Hull 32 – 30 Castleford

Darnell McIntosh, Liam Sutcliffe, and Adam Swift scored in the first half to give the Black and Whites the advantage and ultimately secure the 32-30 win; Castleford Tigers fought back through Kenny Edwards, Bureta Faraimo, and Jake Mamo

Hull FC took control against Castleford Tigers in the first half and romped to a secure lead and ultimately two points

Hull FC did just enough to hold off a stunning Castleford fightback to start life under new head coach Tony Smith with a 32-30 win and start their 2023 Super League campaign off on the right foot.

The Black and Whites were electric for just short of an hour, racing into a 32-6 lead, but four late Cas tries in the final quarter had the nerves jangling and set up an intense final few minutes, with Hull ultimately doing just enough to hold on.

Tex Hoy and Jake Clifford pulled the strings for the hosts, who executed brilliantly at times, but the creativity of new Tigers halves Gareth Widdop and Jacob Miller ensured a grandstand finish, in which Castleford ultimately paid for a poor opening half.

Story of the game

Hull took the lead inside 10 minutes with a well-worked try from Darnell McIntosh, who walked in from a lovely pass from Hoy. The hosts doubled their tally on the next set when Liam Sutcliffe raced in for a debut try on the back of a break from Brad Dwyer.

It was all Hull early and the Black and Whites made it three successive tries, with McIntosh grabbing his second, controlling the ball brilliantly with his foot to score his second out wide.

Despite a Castleford fightback, Hull FC held on to get Tony Smith’s time with the black and whites off to a winning start

The Tigers needed to respond and, on the back of a penalty, did just that, with Widdop creating space for former Hull man Bureta Faraimo to score in the corner and give Cas a lifeline.

The reprieve was short lived though, as FC hit back with two more tries before the break, with Hoy again instrumental in providing Adam Swift with enough space to stroll over on the left twice in six minutes to give Hull a commanding half-time advantage.

The writing looked to be on the wall for the Tigers in the second half as Danny Houghton barged over after Ben McNamara jumped on a wayward kick to put Hull in complete control.

However, Lee Radford’s men wouldn’t die wondering, offloading at will to score four tries in succession to almost snatch the game.

Kenny Edwards raced in on the left and was joined on the scoresheet by Miller minutes later to cut the gap to three scores, before Faraimo added a second on the right and when Jake Mamo reached over with five to go, it was anyone’s game.

Hull threw everything they had defensively to shut Castleford down in the final minutes and did enough to secure a valuable two points.

What’s Next?

Hull FC are back in action on Friday as they travel to face Leeds Rhinos, live on Sky Sports Arena at 8pm. The Castleford Tigers face the prospect of a visit from the newly crowned World Club champions St Helens on Sunday 26 February, with kick off at 1pm.