One final heartache as Tickle suffers at Wembley

That is because the abject 16-0 loss against Wigan Warriors marked a hat-trick of Challenge Cup defeats for the England second-row who is still awaiting any sort of success in the sport’s oldest competition.

He lost with Wigan against St Helens in 2004 and, also, for Hull against Saints four years later.

When asked to sum up his feelings, a candid Tickle admitted: “Yes, I’m used to this.

“It’s the fourth time I’ve lost in a final (Bradford Bulls beat Wigan in his sole Old Trafford appearance in 2003) so, I don’t know…

“It’s a very disappointed changing room. All the lads are disappointed. We know we could have done better on the day.

“I thought Wigan handled field position better than us, their composure was better and we came up with some really sloppy errors.

“I wouldn’t like to blame the conditions – they are the same for both teams – but if you ask any one of our players in that changing room if they could have done something better in that game the answer would have been ‘yes’.”

Undoubtedly, Hull’s lack of respect for possession caused irrevocable damage as they continually spilled even the simplest of passes to invite Wigan into the game.

It was testimony to the East Yorkshire club’s defensive resolve that they had somehow still only conceded one try until Sam Tomkins weaved over in the final seconds.

Tickle, whose rare failed tackle led to Iain Thornley’s 21st-minute try, admitted: “I thought we handled their shifts pretty well.

“Obviously, I came up with a one-on-one miss, got caught out in the centres and got done for a bit of pace on the outside there but apart from that, and the try of Tomkins at the end, I thought we handled them pretty well.

“They just kept their composure and built pressure on our defensive line pretty well.

“They got a couple of repeat sets that kept us ticking over in our defence and when it came to attack I don’t think we had enough push due to the amount of defending we’d had to do in the game.”

Although Hull lost influential captain Gareth Ellis to a rib injury after a quarter-of-an-hour – he did return later in the second period – Tickle insists that cannot be used as an excuse for their failure.

“I didn’t really notice it to be honest,” admitted the 30-year-old. “The game was a bit fast that first half and I just didn’t notice (he’d gone off).

“We still had 13 players on there and should have done better.

“Straight from the kick-off before you knew it the game was over.

“That’s what happens in finals; games are played quick and we had a lot of defending again to do.

“I think that’s been a theme this year – having to defend against sides. We didn’t have a fair amount of possession and I thought it cost us.”

Despite a dearth of clear scoring chances, Hull did still only trail 8-0 when rookie full-back Jamie Shaul almost delivered the most sensational of Wembley tries, picking up a kick near his own line before breaking tackles to surge through the middle and into open space.

It looked like the 21-year-old would go all the way only for England winger Josh Charnley to come across and not only cut him down just short but force the ball clear too.

A try then could have changed the nature of the contest and injected some authority into Hull’s play.

But Wiganer Tickle maintained: “There was more opportunities than that and that’s full credit to Josh Charnley showing what a class winger he is to come back and do that cover tackle.

“Tom Briscoe’s done it many times for us and that’s the sort of play you look for in finals.

“Full credit to Wigan. To be in there (half-time) behind at 6-0 with the amount of possession we had is full credit to our defence too but we just weren’t good enough on the day.

“I thought they handled the majority of key factors in that game better than us.”

There is, realistically, unlikely to be a fourth attempt for Tickle ending his personal barren run in the Challenge Cup given he joins Widnes Vikings on a three-year deal from 2014 where lifting any form of silverware is improbable.

But the ex-Halifax player still harbours hopes of winning a first Super League Grand Final with the club he has served with such distinction since 2007.

“We spoke before (Wembley) that we’re not happy with just getting here,” said Tickle, who was unable even to utilise his goalkicking expertise at the weekend.

“Unfortunately we weren’t good enough but I think we will learn from today.

“These are the types of game you want to be involved in and hopefully we can kick on and build into these play-offs, find a bit of form again and enjoy it. It (defeat) will benefit the young lads in the team.

“But I am moving on at the end of the year to Widnes and you never know when you’ll get another opportunity like this.

“We’ll focus on these next couple of (league) games with Wigan again next week and then St Helens at home.

“We’re in the play-offs and we’ve got to buckle up.

“We might have got a few injuries from this game but have got to get back on the horse on Friday and this is the type of game I think we’ll learn from; if you want to be winning and playing in finals you have got to be better on the day,” he said.

“We’ll definitely improve going into the semis (play-offs).

“It will take the lads a few days to overcome the loss.

“You don’t get nowhere sulking now.

“We’d all like to be out there on the field crying and I was pretty emotional but Wigan deserved it on the day.”

Hull winger Jason Crookes, 23, has barely played this season following his move from Bradford Bulls but got the golden chance after Tom Lineham’s injury.

However, he admitted: “That performance sort of outweighs getting an opportunity really.

“Everyone’s devastated. I don’t think we handled the conditions well and didn’t complete half as many sets as Wigan did.

“That just meant we didn’t give ourselves a chance.”

[email protected]