Super League: Hull FC 12-23 Castleford Tigers - Tigers win to boost play-off hopes

Danny Richardson came up with his first try of the year as Castleford beat Hull FC

Half-back Danny Richardson steered Castleford Tigers to a crucial win against fellow challengers Hull in the race for the Super League play-offs.

Jordan Turner scored two, Richardson kicked three goals and a drop-goal before crossing for a key score before Niall Evalds went in late on.

Adam Swift and Jake Connor went in for a try apiece but Hull came up short.

Tigers go up to sixth, leapfrogging both Hull and their city rivals Hull KR in the table.

The impact of Covid has prompted Super League to again run with a win percentage table to account for games lost through postponements, leaving coaches reaching for the calculator after games to determine their fate.

With just four rounds remaining, the push for the play-offs has gathered pace and with both Hull clubs - just above Cas - losing, the door has again opened just that bit wider for Daryl Powell's side after this fourth straight win.

Paul McShane's first-half departure through injury was a major blow, as the key orchestrator from dummy-half, but Adam Milner came on and maintained a decent flow and teed up Richardson for his first score of the year.

Full-back Evalds also had a big game, working with Greg Eden to create Turner's second after an early goalline power-over for the opening score.

Brett Hodgson's Hull came into the game after a pulsating yet sapping derby win over city rivals Hull KR, a game in which they lost Josh Reynolds and Joe Cator to season-ending injuries.

With the loss of those two figures, and Carlos Tuimavave limping out during the first 40, they struggled to find their groove in the second-half after a fairly even opener.

Connor's double-pump put Swift over from a sliding move and he gathered Cam Scott's offload after Hull made inroads, but the highlights were all too fleeting for the Airlie Birds.

Experienced prop Scott Taylor and Cas' George Griffin were sin-binned late on as frustrations boiled over.

Hull FC head coach Brett Hodgson told BBC Radio Humberside:

"I'm really disappointed that we couldn't get ourselves up for this game. We need to brush this off really quickly and get ready for Monday again.

"We had to be up for a tough occasion tonight and we weren't. Castleford played the same time we did [last weekend] and they were.

"We played way too conservatively in the first half we have to be more brave and ask a few more questions."

Castleford Tigers boss Daryl Powell told BBC Radio Leeds:

"It was a tough game and was always going to be. Losing Paul McShane in the way we did, I always intended to give him less minutes.

"That was a blow but I thought Adam Milner was class when he stepped in tonight. The game ebbed and flowed in the first half.

"Half-time gave us a good refocus point. We looked untidy with the ball in attacking positions but I thought we were so tough tonight."

Hull FC: Connor; Swift, Scott, Tuimavave, Faraimo; McNamara, Sneyd; Sao, Houghton, Taylor, Ma'u, Savelio, Lane

Interchanges: Fash, Fonua, Johnstone, Satae

Castleford: Evalds; Olpherts, Mata'utia, Turner, Eden; Richardson, O'Brien; Smith, McShane, Griffin, Blair, Foster, Massey

Interchanges: Watts, Holmes, Milner, Matagi

Referee: Ben Thaler

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