Hull FC boss John Cartwright was filled with pride following his side’s victory in the Challenge Cup.
The Black and Whites pulled off a 26-22 victory over Wigan Warriors to book their place in the quarter-final draw.
Hull coach Cartwright has been pleased with the attitudes of his players and their ability to stay in a game for the full eighty minutes, a welcome sight to Hull FC fans.
Speaking to the BBC after the victory, Cartwright said: “I don’t know how to describe that, I thought it was one of the better 80 minutes of guts.
“I’ve been saying it for the last month really.
“To turn that around in just four weeks, a forty point loss at home, to come here to their own ground in a pressure situation and just keep playing footy.
“They never gave up and they scored some great tries at the end of the day.”
Cartwright was less than impressed by the 22-6 half-time deficit and shared that it was the players themselves who spoke at the break.
He said: “We’ve got a good, experienced crew there so pretty player-led. We just said it before the game ‘give them too many chances and they’ll hurt you’.
“Funnily enough, we gave them plenty of chances in the second half as well.”
The Hull FC boss has been impressed by his side’s determination this season, especially after some of their ill-discipline.
Following John Asiata’s sin-binning, Hull FC of old would’ve folded but this new-look side kept their composure.
Cartwright added: “We held them from scoring, they had a fair few chances up there.
“We’ve got to digest that, we’ll certainly celebrate it but we’ve got a Super League game coming up this week with a six-day turnaround.
“You can’t help but just love their courage.
“I wish you could bottle it and bring it out when you need it but they’ve been showing it.”
He was full of praise for his young wingers, Harvey Barron and Lewis Martin, with Martin grabbing himself a hat-trick on the night.
Cartwright finished by thanking the travelling support.
He said: “They helped us again, we were 16-0 down, 22-4 down and they just kept cheering and making noise.
“They did our best to try and help us get a few decisions but we didn’t get many of those either.”
Hull FC face a trip to Wakefield Trinity on Friday night in round five of Super League.
