Hull’s mauling of Castleford ends as 11-a-side contest

Australian stand-off Daniel Holdsworth marked his return from injury with an excellent display at the KC Stadium, having missed two matches due to concussion, and in the first half he produced two huge ‘bombs’ to create tries for Richard Horne and Lineham.

Lineham also grabbed an interception try inside the opening 40 minutes, and Arundel benefited from some good fortune to cross for his first score, with Danny Tickle booting three goals.

There was little variation on the theme in the second half as Hull added tries through Arundel and Lineham’s third, before a 26-man brawl broke out, leading to red cards for Tickle and Weller Hauraki and a pair of yellow cards, making it an 11-a-side contest.

Arundel grabbed his hat-trick try, with Houghton and Josh Bowden also crossing between the posts to complete the nine-try demolition and also give Hull their first clean sheet at the KC this season.

Hull were without scrum-half Brett Seymour, who is on leave following a car accident, while props Bowden and Liam Watts were part of the 17-man squad for the first time this season.

Castleford made just one change to last week’s squad that faced Wigan, James Clare starting at left centre in the place of Jake Webster.

Hull received a relieving penalty after four minutes, and on the last tackle Holdsworth sent up a towering kick. Jordan Tansey mistakenly let the ball bounce and Lineham pounced and offloaded for Horne to dive over in the corner. Tickle added the extras.

Two minutes later and Hull were over again as Justin Carney lost the ball in the tackle, and Arundel picked up the pieces to crash over after evading one defender. Tickle converted from the touchline.

The hosts extended their lead after 31 minutes when Rangi Chase’s pass deflected off Hauraki’s shoulder and into the hands of the gleeful Lineham, who raced 30 metres to score.

Another error let the home side in for their fourth try, as this time Clare was unable to deal with Holdsworth’s kick and Lineham was in the right place to collect and score his second try.

In the second half Arundel added his second from a short pass from Horne, and Lineham grabbed his hat-trick try a couple of minutes later with Horne again the provider, this time with the boot. Tickle converted both.

The game turned ugly after 50 minutes as both sides showed their boxing skills. Referee Steve Ganson sent off Tickle and Hauraki, while sin-binning Carney and Mark O’Meley.

With just over 20 minutes to go Arundel slid over for his hat-trick after dummying for the score.

Castleford sought refuge from their team’s failings as they proceeded on a conga around the North Stand, before Bowden broke the line and cleverly stepped past full-back Tansey to bring up the 50-point mark with his first try for the club.

Hull: McDonnell, Lineham, Arundel, Yeaman, Briscoe, Holdsworth, Horne, O’Meley, Houghton, Lynch, Galea, Tickle, Westerman. Substitutes: Heremaia, Bowden, Whiting, Watts.

Castleford: Tansey, Carney, Shenton, Clare, Dixon, Chase, Ellis, Massey, Milner, Huby, Millington, Hauraki, Holmes. Substitutes: Clark, Mason, Thompson, Emmitt.

Referee: S Ganson (St Helens).