Up for the cup Hull can beat anyone, says Radford after Catalans win
Hull coach Lee Radford says they are a match for anyone after they bounced back from their Magic Weekend horror show with a 51-8 demolition of holders Catalans in the Challenge Cup.
Radford was left stunned after the 55-2 mauling against Huddersfield, and was almost equally as perplexed after watching his side take apart the in-form Dragons at the KCOM Stadium.
He said: “To put a performance against them fellas, who have been bang at it for the last month, to win so emphatically like that after Saturday, it’s hard to explain. I don’t want to accept (the bad performances).
“We have to keep working now to try and find a better way of getting beat, which sounds stupid. But we are fourth, two points off third – a team we just pumped – and we are through to a Challenge Cup semi-final.
“I knew we could compete with Catalans. I knew we could compete with Warrington and compete with Saints. We just need to maintain it on a consistent basis, that’s our Achilles heel at the moment.
“We only want to make the (top) five, because we can beat anyone on our day as we have proven in the last three years in the cup. We turn up.
“They are a good side, very good side, so any result against them tonight would have been a pats-on-the-back for everybody, but to do it in emphatic style is really pleasing.”
Jake Connor and Bureta Faraimo crossed for early tries, but a quickfire brace from Lewis Tierney pulled Catalans back to 12-8 at half-time.
Marc Sneyd, who kicked 19 points on the night, added an early second-half penalty before tries from Sika Manu and Ratu Naulago put Hull into a commanding 26-8 lead with 25 minutes to play.
The Airlie Birds ran away with it in the final quarter with further scores from Albert Kelly, Naulago’s second, Jamie Shaul and Danny Houghton.
It represents a remarkable 74 point swing in less than a month, with Catalans winning 37-6 when the two sides met in Super League at the beginning of May.
Hull won the Challenge Cup in 2016 and 2017, and go ahead to the semi-finals which will be held at the University of Bolton Stadium.