Hat-trick hero Adam Swift was hailed as Hull’s very own Forrest Gump by delighted boss Tony Smith.
The pacey winger, 30, grabbed a hat-trick as the Black and Whites eased past shoddy Castleford into the Challenge Cup quarter-finals. It was Swift’s first treble since scoring three for St Helens against Hull four years ago. And he will now face his former club after FC were drawn at home to Super League champions Saints for next month’s last-eight showdown.
Smith said: “Swifty was good. He was full of energy. He always is. He runs as much as he can and gets to the point where he can hardly run any further. He’s a bit like Forrest Gump. I’ve got to tell him to stop sometimes! He was strong in defence, too, and did some really good reads. We were pretty solid throughout - and now we’ve got a nice easy one against Saints!”
But Hull, who saw young forward Nick Staveley debut, will fancy their chances after a fourth straight win. Aussie half-back Jake Clifford ran the show alongside Jake Trueman, who made his first return to former club Castleford. The depleted hosts were hit hard by injury, illness and suspension. They had loose forward Joe Westerman and hooker Paul McShane as makeshift half-backs with prop George Lawler at nine.
But few could have expected them being 22-0 down inside just 32 minutes. Clifford raced 90m after just 117 seconds having stripped the ball from Westerman. That was chalked out after video replays showed Josh Griffin was also involved in the tackle. But the carnage soon came. Griffin scored himself off Tex Hoy’s short ball, Clifford slotting the first of his four goals.
Clifford then set up Swift when his grubber luckily ricocheted back to him down the left flank. Swift added his second in the 29th minute, smartly finishing off a simple passing move. Hull scored back-to-back tries when the impressive Griffin broke clear in the next set off Clifford’s latest clever pass. Hoy, Clifford, Liam Sutcliffe and Trueman all supported before Jack Brown finished off.
Castleford avoided being nilled when ex-Hull winger Mahe Fonua finished a move of rare quality. But Trueman ushered Jordan Lane over with alarming ease at the start of the second period. And Swift completed his treble from Clifford’s brilliant cut-out pass in the 61st minute.
Ex-Hull KR winger Will Tate scored his first try in Castleford colours before Griffin was sin-binned for dissent after he saw an effort disallowed. Tigers coach Andy Last, who handed a debut to youngster Jacob Hookem, said: “We had some illness in the camp during the week and we were down on energy. But it’s quite clear we’re not good enough at the moment.”
* Former Great Britain bobsleigh athlete Olly Butterworth scored a debut hat-trick to send York into the Challenge Cup quarter-finals with a 36-12 win over Championship rivals London Broncos which sees them now host Super League Leigh.
Betfred Challenge Cup quarter-final draw: Hull KR v Salford, York v Leigh, Wigan v Warrington, Hull v St Helens (all ties played weekend June 16-18)
