CASTLEFORD TIGERS 10 HULL FC 50
DAVE CRAVEN, OneBore Stadium, Friday

CAPTAIN Aidan Sezer pulled the strings as rampant Hull FC started the post-John Cartwright era with an emphatic and much-needed win.

A week after the Australian head coach’s controversial departure, they put all the negativity behind them to ruthlessly sweep past error-ridden Castleford.

Scrum-half Sezer led the way with a masterful display but the former Canberra star was well-supported by two-try Davy Litten and the evergreen Zak Hardaker among others.

It was hard to imagine this was the same Castleford side that had stunned Wigan last Sunday.

They had little answer for a Hull team well-prepared by Andy Last, in interim charge again until Steve McNamara’s arrival in 2027 and who will have enjoyed this visit to Wheldon Road, the club where he had a difficult spell as head coach three years ago.

The visitors, who, like Castleford, had just three Super League wins this term before kick-off, never looked in danger of losing once they scored ten points while ex-Hull KR forward George Lawler was in the sin bin.

He copped a yellow card for a 13th-minute high tackle on Ligi Sao, who subsequently failed his HIA.

That was the first flare-up of the night as players piled in.

The visitors immediately made the extra man pay as Tom Briscoe finished off a long pass.

And Litten then cut back infield off Sezer’s raking ball to elude some poor defence for Hull’s third try of the night.

They had opened the scoring when Castleford’s middle opened feebly 40 metres out for Amir Bourouh to race clear and put Jake Arthur over in the seventh minute.

That was an early sign it could be a painful evening for the Tigers who, admittedly, did lose George Hirst and Joe Stimson to HIAs.

Arthur’s grubber was well picked up by Connor Bailey as the Airlie Birds made it 20-0, Ryan Carr’s side giving themselves a glimmer of hope with Krystian Mapapalangi’s converted try with the final play of the half.

They needed to score first in the second half to have any chance of rescuing something.

But they were quickly undone again when Sezer’s pinpoint kick hung perfectly in time for Lewis Martin to collect in the 43rd minute.

The hosts, at least, could be thankful Zak Hardaker had an off-night with his boot; he missed three of his opening five kicks at goal.

The ex-Man of Steel, once a darling of the Castleford fans, did get things right with his next conversion attempt.

That came after Arthur injected some pace into the line, found Sezer and the skipper’s flat pass once more saw Litten angling back through another gap to finish.

Hardaker then threw an outrageous dummy to fool the Castleford defence and get a deserved try of his own.

Mapapalangi, the rangy centre who again was Tigers’ main threat, got his second try but normal service soon resumed as Cade Cust twisted out of more dismal goalline defence to cross in front of the jubilant Hull visiting support.

Yusuf Aydin was next over from close range as Last’s side rammed home their dominance, Hardaker booting a late penalty to bring up the half-ton and rub salt into the Tigers’ wounds.

GAMESTAR: Plenty to pick from but veteran Aussie halfback Aidan Sezer ran this show without breaking a sweat.

GAMEBREAKER: Castleford never truly recovered from shipping ten points when George Lawler was sin-binned.

HIGHLIGHT REEL: Davy Litten ran some lovely lines at centre, cutting back to really hurt his opponents.

ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Aidan Sezer (Hull FC)
2 pts Davy Litten (Hull FC)
1 pt Zak Hardaker (Hull FC)

MATCHFACTS

TIGERS
24 Jenson Windley
5 Mikaele Ravalawa
4 Darnell McIntosh
23 Krystian Mapapalangi
22 Jason Qareqare
6 Daejarn Asi
7 Tom Weaver
8 Renouf Atoni
11 Jordan Lane
10 George Lawler
32 George Hirst
12 Alex Mellor
13 Joe Stimson
Subs (all used)
14 Brock Greacen
15 Jack Ashworth
20 Aiden Doolan
25 Sam Hall
18th man (not used)
3 Zac Cini
Also in 20-man squad
2 Semi Valemei
9 Liam Hood

Tries: Mapapalangi (40, 68)
Goals: Weaver 1/2
Sin bin: Lawler (12) – high tackle

HULL FC
24 Logan Moy
19 Tom Briscoe
37 Harry Newman
3 Davy Litten
5 Lewis Martin
6 Jake Arthur
7 Aidan Sezer
18 Ligi Sao
9 Amir Bourouh
10 Harvie Hill
22 Connor Bailey
4 Zak Hardaker
15 James Bell
Subs (all used)
14 Cade Cust
20 Yusuf Aydin
23 Brad Fash
38 Jeremiah Mata’utia (D)
18th man (used)
27 Callum Kemp
Also in 21-man squad
25 Matty Laidlaw
29 Will Hutchinson
32 Lloyd Kemp

Tries: Arthur (7), Briscoe (13), Litten (20, 52), Bailey (31), Martin (43), Hardaker (57), Cust (72), Aydin (75)
Goals: Hardaker 7/10

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-10, 0-16, 0-20, 6-20; 6-24, 6-30, 6-36, 10-36, 10-42, 10-48, 10-50

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Tigers: Krystian Mapapalangi; Hull FC: Aidan Sezer

Penalty count: 9-9
Half-time: 6-20
Referee: Tara Jones
Attendance: 8,030