Castleford 18 Hull 42: Yeaman brings Castleford's party back down to earth

All Castleford's enthusiasm was to no avail as they were welcomed back to Super League after a year's absence by a Hull display that showed them the standard they must aim for.

There were good signs for the Tigers in the mighty efforts of their starting props, Danny Sculthorpe and Danny Nutley, but they could never match the all-round slickness of Hull, who have so many more attacking options.

Castleford felt like a town that had been waiting for the return of Super League ever since the Tigers dropped out of the competition 15 months ago.

All roads in this prototypical rugby league community led once more to "The Jungle", which was close to capacity for the first of the tests of their ability to survive at this level.

There was nothing wrong with how Cas threw themselves into the early collisions, but the pace of the game found them conceding too many penalties for comfort. From one of them, awarded against Ben Roarty for holding on in the tackle, Danny Brough kicked the first points of the season.

Relentless Hull pressure forced Cas to drop out from under the sticks and, from that opportunity, Sid Domic ran on to Brough's pass for his first try for his new club. Castleford were finding out how tough life in the top flight is going to be.

A clever little run and kick from Andy Kain forced Hull to drop out as Cas built pressure for the first time, Richard Fletcher claiming their first Super League XI points with a penalty.

Hull always had the extra touch of class, however, and they showed it clearly when they went further ahead after 25 minutes.

Jamie Thackray started the attack with a lovely short pass to Richard Horne and, after Domic had angled the play towards Castleford's vulnerable right-hand side, Horne was there again to supply the final pass to Shaun Briscoe.

Kain's kicking game continued to cause Hull some problems, but as soon as they got a chance to attack again they scored a try of stark simplicity, Paul Cooke taking Richard Swain's pass from dummy half and exploiting a slow-moving defence to stretch over the line.

Cas needed something special to get them into the game and, immediately before half-time, they got it. Danny Sculthorpe, who had played strongly at prop, produced a precise kick to the wing that bounced perfectly for Michael Shenton, who turned it back inside for Gray Viane to score.

Cas could not carry on their resurgence after the break and saw Hull reassert themselves 10 minutes into the second half when Domic's pass gave Nathan Blacklock a try with his first touch after coming on as a substitute. Almost immediately, a flowing move put Gareth Raynor over and Hull were out of sight.

Cas came back when Bryan McGoldrick's kick gave Viane his second, but Swain set up another Hull try for Kirk Yeaman to keep the Challenge Cup holders well in control.

Richard Fa'aoso got one to warm up the home supporters on a freezing night but Hull finished with tries from Peter Lupton and Yeaman. That made Castleford look more badly mauled than they had been and they deserved their late consolation through McGoldrick.

Castleford: Bird; Shenton, Viane, Dyer, Blanch; McGoldrick, Kain; Sculthorpe, Henderson, Nutley, Whitaker, Fa'aoso, Roarty. Substitutes used: Smith, Fletcher, Ward, Mason.

Hull: Briscoe; Tony, Whiting, Yeaman, Raynor; Horne, Brough; Bowes, Swain, King, Radford, Domic, Cooke. Substitutes used: Carvell, Thackray, Lupton, Blacklock.

Referee: K Kirkpatrick (Warrington).