Milnes pulls strings as Castleford see off Hull FC

Betfred Super League

Castleford (18) 30

Tries: Horne, Hoy, Milnes, Qareqare, Hall Goals: Milnes 5

Hull FC (10) 22

Tries: Barron, Sutcliffe, Chan, Trueman Goals: Reynolds 3

Castleford Tigers continued their resurgence with a thrilling victory against a Hull FC side who slipped to a ninth consecutive Super League defeat.

Tigers raced into a 12-0 lead inside nine minutes at The Jungle thanks to two fine tries from Liam Horne and Tex Hoy.

And they managed to keep their spirited visitors at arm's length throughout, running in three further scores through the excellent Rowan Milnes, Jason Qareqare and Corey Hall to ensure a third win in a six-game run which has included just two defeats.

Harvey Barron, Liam Sutcliffe, Tiaki Chan and Jake Trueman all crossed for the Black and Whites.

But despite a frantic finish they could not complete an unlikely comeback and remain second from bottom, five points behind Castleford and Leigh Leopards.

Jason Qareqare's try put Castleford firmly in control before Hull FC's late rally

Cas, who started the Super League season with six consecutive defeats, began an enthralling first half in electrifying style, Horne going over after a fine break by Sam Hall and Hoy finishing off a delicious team move by chipping through and touching down.

Hull FC, who this week announced John Cartwright will take over as head coach next season, still refused to be cowed with Sutcliffe racing 80 metres for a super interception score.

However, Cas responded once again with Milnes always at the heart of their best moments.

After Barron replied with a simple score out wide, Milnes chased his own kick through and was quickest to react after some dreadful defending to add a third converted try.

Hull FC still refused to be cowed, Sutcliffe racing 80 metres for a super interception score, however, Cas responded once again with Milnes always at the heart of their best moments.

In a blistering start to the second period Paul McShane's glorious score in the corner was ruled out for obstruction in the build-up, but the Cas pressure was relentless and it told when Jason Qarequare went over following a high kick and some great handling by Sylvester Namo

Another delightful kick by the outstanding Milnes allowed Corey Hall to pounce for his first try of the season and the game seemed settled at 30-10.

However, on-loan Wigan Warriors back Chan's classy finish, following more good work by Sutcliffe and duly converted by Ben Reynolds, got the visitors back to within 16 points while Trueman's converted try from Barron's cute kick brought more respectability to the scoreline.

Rowan Milnes (right) was in inspired form, scoring 14 of Castleford's points

Post-match reaction

Castleford head coach Craig Lingard:

“You’ve got to enjoy these nights but you’ve got to make sure you don’t get carried away, because it’s just one victory.

“We are a long way from the finished article, but after the abysmal second-half performance against St Helens, to come back and win a game like that is a good thing.

“The message today was to be boring. We gifted Hull two tries and it was frustrating to go in at half-time only eight points up, because I thought we’d managed the game really well.

“We’re still learning. We seem to be having two weeks when we’re really good and two when we’re not, but we’re taking these little steps forward, and next week at Leeds is another of those tests for us.”

Hull FC interim head coach Simon Grix:

“I thought we regrouped quite a bit from London but as far as the game goes we blinked first, and after fighting our way back for half-time, the second half went much the same way.

“With 15 minutes to go we decided we wanted to play and started playing how we’d practised.

“Often when the scoreboard’s gone teams find they have that energy, and the challenge for us is to find it earlier.

“The London game was the low point so far – we didn’t look like a team that was committed to the badge. But tonight we certainly took a step forward. It’s not what we want just yet, but it was an improvement.”

Castleford: Hoy; Qareqare, C Hall, Wood, I Senior; Milnes, McShane; Griffin, Horne, S Hall, Mellor, El-Zakhem, Westerman.

Interchanges: Watts, Hodson, Namo, Hill.

Hull FC: Moy; Briscoe, Scott, Sutcliffe, Barron; Trueman, Reynolds; Ese’ese, Houghton, Aydin, Lane, Sao, Fash.

Interchanges: Ashworth, Smith, Jebson, Chan.

Referee: Aaron Moore.