
John Cartwright described young Hull FC playmakers Callum and Lloyd Kemp as ‘the difference’ in the club’s pre-season friendly win against Castleford Tigers. The Black and Whites beat Danny McGuire’s side 16-10 at Wheldon Road in a clash that doubled up as Joe Westerman’s testimonial contest.
Josh Simm and Innes Senior touched down in the first half for Castleford with a Jordan Rapana effort being the only thing the travelling Hull contingent had to cheer before the break. However, Cartwright made a raft of changes for the second half with the Kemp twins being just two to step into the fray.
Hull immediately stepped things up in the second half, too, taking the lead as Jed Cartwright and Amir Bourouh went over from close range. But it was the efforts of the Kemps who kept Hull in the game during heavy periods of pressure with some heroic defence and ingenuity on the ball.
And, speaking after the game, Cartwright could be heard waxing lyrical about the 18-year-olds, with Callum playing in the halves and Lloyd appearing at full-back.
“They were tremendous,” Cartwright told the press after the game. “They’re still academy boys, they can still play academy.
“They were probably the difference in the game in the end. They brought energy and that played out through the rest of the team. They kicked really well and young Lloyd at full-back is as brave as they come. People will come through the gates to watch those two.”
Hull FC dig deep to edge out Castleford Tigers in Joe Westerman’s testimonialhttps://t.co/kvfaBfZ30k
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On the game the Hull FC boss added: “I’m just happy with the way we finished the game. We made a lot of changes at half-time so I’m really happy for the younger squad they got a chance and went on to win the game, it was pleasing.
“It’s good when the team realises where they came up short. They played really well over the first 30 minutes but we didn’t help our cause. We gave them free shots at us I suppose, they kicked and chased really well and they were aggressive in defence. The players summed it up themselves at half-time and it was just about fixing up the errors and playing a little more direct when we had the ball.
“I really thought that with the experience they had on the field they’d jag a try towards the end, they had a lot of ball and field position and they were playing a lot of football but that sort of resilience can take a while to build and they kept turning up for each other.”
