
Hull FC dug deep to claim a 16-10 win over Castleford Tigers and give supporters a boost of optimism as they approach the 2025 Super League season.
The Black and Whites made the trip to Wheldon Road to celebrate the career of testimonial man Joe Westerman, but they had enough about them to leave the Castleford fans disappointed and head into the season on a positive.
In keeping with the occasion it was Castleford who started the quicker of the two sides, with Josh Simm getting over the line to open the scoring. Judah Rimbu found Sam Wood with a cut out pass to bypass the eager defence from Jordan Rapana to allow Simm to sidestep the scrambling Harvey Barron and touch down.
Hull hit back through Rapana, who made a solid impression during his first half stint, to get their first points of the day. The Black and Whites’ hadn’t offered too much in attack before then but the New Zealand international took it well.
Daejarn Asi and Tex Hoy made sure Castleford went in at the break ahead, though, as they combined well down Hull’s right edge to put Innes Senior over in the corner.
Hull made a raft of changes at the back, swapping out their entire backline with youngsters and that seemed to help John Cartwright’s side step it up a gear. Jed Cartwright scored the try Hull needed to level the scores shortly after the break by hitting a short ball at pace.
Amir Bourouh then marked his first outing in an FC shirt with a try of his own, with a neat dummy creating the hole he needed to dive over.
Castleford came close to levelling the scores late on through Fletcher Rooney, only for the youngster to drop the ball over the goal line. And, after a sustained period of pressure, Hull managed to hold out in order to go into the season on the back of their first win since July.
Castleford Tigers: Tex Hoy; Josh Simm, Zac Cini, Sam Wood, Innes Senior; Judah Rimbu, Daejarn Asi; George Griffin, Liam Horne, George Lawler; Jeremiah Simbiken, Alex Mellor, Joe Westerman.
Bench: Liam Watts, Cain Robb, Luke Hooley, Muizz Mustapha, Sylvester Namo, Fletcher Rooney, Dan Okoro.
Hull FC: Logan Moy; Tom Briscoe, Zak Hardaker, Jordan Rapana, Harvey Barron; Cade Cust, Aidan Sezer; Herman Ese’ese, Amir Bourouh, Ligi Sao; Jordan Lane, Ed Chamberlain; John Asiata.
Bench: Jed Cartwright, Jack Ashworth, Brad Fash, Will Gardiner, Lewis Martin, Denive Balmforth, Zach Jebson, Ryan Westerman, Callum Kemp, Hugo Salabio, Lennon Clark, Will Hutchinson, Lloyd Kemp, Will Kirby, Joe Ward.
FC take the win at the Jungle.#COYF pic.twitter.com/j60DKAo2ef
— Castleford Tigers (@CTRLFC) February 1, 2025
