Hull FC booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup yesterday with comprehensive win over Castleford Tigers.
Hull got off to a good start. Josh Griffin had been heavily involved in the early stages and his good line on the back of good shape from Jake Clifford and Tex Hoy allowed Griffin to carve through.
Clifford was pulling the strings and when his grubber deflected back into his hands he was able to juggle it and then tee up Adam Swift for Hull’s second try.
Swift then got a second. A quintessentially perfect diving, one handed finish in the corner, after a sweeping move down the left, from Adam Swift gave the Black and Whites a 16-0 lead.
It was two tries in two minutes after a lovely short ball from Clifford allowed Griffin to go through. It then went inside to Hoy who found Clifford. Clifford was dragged down but he was up quick and gave it to Liam Sutcliffe. It then went to Jake Trueman before finding Jack Brown to finish the move.
A former cup hero of Hull FC gave Castleford some hope as halftime loomed. He used his power to ground the ball in the corner as Cas built some pressure.
After the left side had shone in the first half, a move down the right saw Hull FC notch the first points of the second half through Jordan Lane cross.
Then, as Castleford attacked, an error allowed Adam Swift to streak down field and from the set he went on to complete his hat-trick.
Castleford were doing it tough in terms of personnel but they have a lot of young players who stood out and Will Tate was one who scored after a lovely scrum move.
That completed the scoring in what was the perfect day for rugby league with the sun out in front of 4,249 fans.
Not the best crowd you will see all season but a by product of the Challenge Cup which often attracts much lower crowds these days sadly.
Impressively though, Hull FC fans made up almost half the attendance with the club revealing they had 2,000 fans headed to the Jungle.
A really impressive travelling contingent from a side who struggled for weeks on end earlier this season.
