In a nutshell
In a tight, tense and exciting encounter, Castleford edged Hull FC thanks to a late try and drop-goal.
How it unfolded
First half: Hull get the perfect start, with Fetuli Talanoa scoring on his side’s first possession thanks to a lovely quick pass from Kirk Yeaman, Crooks converts to make it 6-0; the home side respond with their very first set, too, through captain Michael Shenton who finished off a move involving Daryl Clark and Grant Millington; Hull hooker Aaron Heremaia forces a drop-out with a clever kick and Hull score from resulting set, Gareth Ellis taking Heremaia’s short ball over the line, Crooks adds the extras to take a 6-12 lead into the break.
Second half: Castleford make ideal start to second half through a glorious move set up by Frankie Mariano, who passed to Daryl Clark to put in Marc Sneyd, who converted his own try to level the scores; Liam Colbon edges Hull ahead with a fantastic finish on his debut, but Crooks misses the conversion to make it 12-16; the game ebbs and flows until Cas strike late on, getting in front for the first time in the game thanks to a Frankie Mariano try that was converted by Marc Sneyd, putting the home side 18-16 up with two minutes to play; Salford loanee Sneyd then adds a field goal to put them three clear and the match ends 19-16, Cas remain unbeaten.
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