Ese'ese powers Hull FC to Super League victory over Castleford

Herman Ese’ese celebrated signing a new long-term contract at Hull FC by paving the way for his side to cruise past Castleford 24-14 at The Jungle and soar up to second place in the Betfred Super League.

The 30-year-old powerhouse underscored his worth to John Cartwright’s revitalised Black and Whites as he shrugged off the attentions of three Castleford defenders to bustle over for the opening try with 10 minutes on the clock.

His muscular display set the tone for another impressive win for the visitors, building on last week’s gutsy success at Wakefield, and tees them up nicely for next week’s Challenge Cup derby against Hull KR, the only team left to separate them from the Super League summit.

The only dampener for Cartwright’s side was a head injury sustained by Cade Cust in a high tackle by Innes Senior early in the second half, which saw Senior sin-binned and means Cust will miss the Cup quarter-final.

Castleford’s cautious revival had run aground at Catalans last week, and although Rowan Milnes quickly brought them level after a lightning-fast surge by Josh Simm down the right touchline halfway through the first period, they failed to grasp the momentum.

Instead it was the visitors who regained the initiative just before the half-hour mark, when Tom Briscoe sprung through a gap in the Castleford defence before Jack Ashworth’s short pass sent Aidan Sezer surging over.

The hosts could have levelled after pummelling the FC line and coming close in an energetic cameo from Dan Okoro, but they were made to pay for their missed chance shortly before the break when Cust’s pass sent Briscoe somersaulting over for the visitors’ third.

Sezer’s superb kick from the touchline – his third on a night that would see him rack up a personal tally of 12 points, moved FC, backed by a sizeable contingent of travelling fans, 12 points clear at the break.

Castleford’s hopes of wresting their way back into the match were dealt a double blow within three minutes of the restart when Senior went shoulder-first on the on-rushing Cust, and moments later Lewis Martin skipped over in the corner for the visitors’ fourth.

Amir Bourouh briefly levelled the numbers when he was yellow-carded for tipping Sam Wood, but FC remained in the ascendancy, with Sezer kicking them further clear after an offside call, all but sealing their sixth away win in all competitions this season.

In what is becoming an all-too-familiar story for Danny McGuire’s men, they rallied when all was lost, former Black and White Tex Hoy bursting over from 60 metres, and Simm adding a late second to at least give the home scoreboard a hint of respectability.

Victory overshadowed by injuries ahead of Hull derby?

Hull FC head coach John Cartwright revealed his side’s straight forward win may have come at a cost ahead of next week’s huge Challenge Cup quarter-final clash against neighbours Hull KR, Cade Cust, Sam Eseh and Amir Bourouh all picking up knocks.

“Cade got a head knock so I’ll just have to get clarification on that,” said Cartwright, referring to the results of the assessment, which could rule him out of the derby due to concussion protocols. “Sam’s was a knee, and Amir hurt his ankle early in the game but he got through.

“It’s exciting [playing Hull KR] – you have to live in Hull to know the feeling in the town at the moment. There’s a heavy rivalry and I’ve picked up on that pretty quickly. I’m really looking forward to it, and I think it is going to be a huge occasion.”

Castleford head coach Danny McGuire issued a withering assessment of his side’s performance, insisting he took no solace from their late rally and questioning the desire of his side.

“Ese’ese is a big man but it looks like he’s a man against under 10s or something,” said McGuire. “It’s just crazy, and it’s exactly the same as last week. I just don’t understand why he can’t be stopped. There’s not enough desperation for me, there’s not enough resilience.

“I thought we were poor for the majority of the game. We found a bit of energy at the back end, which is disappointing because I wanted that energy from minute one, and I think it’s a bit of a cop-out when you find it after 75 minutes.

“It sends a poor message that they (Hull) were comfortable and then we managed to find some energy. We are just not prepared to do the tough stuff at the minute.”

Super League Round Six Fixtures (all live on Sky Sports)

Friday March 28

• 8pm: Leigh Leopards vs Wakefield Trinity
• 8pm: Warrington Wolves vs Leeds Rhinos (5,000th game)

Saturday March 29

• 5.30pm: Catalans Dragons vs St Helens

Sunday March 30

• 3pm: Huddersfield Giants vs Hull Kingston Rovers
• 3pm: Wigan Warriors vs Salford Red Devils

Sky Sports will again show every game of the Super League live this season – including two matches in each round exclusively live, with the remaining four matches each week shown on Sky Sports+ via the red button.