Hull FC boss Tony Smith sensed a “horrow movie” unfolding as his side almost threw away victory against Castleford.
The Black and Whites were 32-6 ahead just before the hour mark in their Super League opener having utterly destroyed their shambolic opponents. But they then pressed the self-destruct button, conceding four tries in 14 crazy minutes to leave them hanging on at the end in front of 15,383 fans, Hull's biggest crowd in six years.
Castleford’s Joe Westerman, playing his first game since infamous footage of him performing a sex act broke, was booed every time he touched the ball by FC fans and regularly taunted. But he almost had the last laugh.
After first game in charge at MKM Stadium, Smith said: “Nobody can go home saying they were not entertained. Cas played some really good stuff in the second half. We gave them a chance but our first half was terrific with the ball. I don't know if we got worse or Cas just got better. I do think we were a bit under-done. But that crowd rode us home. I hope they see enough entertainment in us to come back. Some people do like horror and scary movies and there was a bit of all of that in the second half.”
Hull had surged into a 16-0 lead inside just 15 minutes. Full-back Tex Hoy’s huge cut-out pass put Darnell McIntosh over and his side also scored in the next set. Ex-Leeds hooker Brad Dwyer raced clear from dummy-half to gift Liam Sutcliffe a debut try and then McIntosh added his second. Castleford finally woke up to score via Bureta Faraimo but Jake Clifford’s fine pass unleashed Swift and the winger added his second when Hoy’s long pass saw Faraimo in no man’s land.
When Danny Houghton scampered over at the start of the second period for Clifford to make it 32-6 it looked like job done. But ex-Wakefield captain Jacob Miller slipped Kenny Edwards over to get things going for Cas. And in the next set, it was Miller’s brilliant fired pass that saw Jake Mamo escape and return for Miller to finish. Shoddy Hull defence saw Faraimo squeeze over again but things got worse as Mamo was somehow allowed to weave in in the 74th minute.
Radford said: “We had a lack of desire to do anything tough in that first half. To see us start so reluctant to be tough was a frustration. But it’s a credit to them for not throwing the towel in.”
On the Westerman saga, he said: “We just had a team go over to Australia and pump Penrith Panthers yesterday. That should be front line and centre of the media in rugby league. Unfortunately we’re talking about something else. It’s frustrating. It seems to be the only time we get headlines when something of this nature happens. There's been a few in my career and it pis*ses me off when you’ve got the start of the Super League campaign.”
