Hull FC verdict: Black and Whites' Challenge Cup hopes over after Huddersfield Giants defeat

Hull FC’s hopes of winning the Challenge Cup are over for another year as they lost 24-16 to Huddersfield Giants at the John Smith’s Stadium.

Here’s the verdict.

Having fallen agonisingly short last time out against Wigan Warriors, the Black and Whites were desperate to get back on the horse and claim a spot in the final four of the Challenge Cup.

The returns of Kane Evans and Josh Reynolds gave them confidence of doing just that and they started brightly as Mitieli Vulikijapani went close to opening the scoring, but he couldn’t take in Jake Connor’s soft kick to the corner.

However, the needle of momentum swung Huddersfield’s way after about five minutes as the Giants made their way up the field and touched down through Ricky Leutele, getting the ball down despite the challenge of Darnell McIntosh.

The Black and Whites couldn’t get a foothold in the game as the hosts pinned them into the corner and Tui Lolohea took the opportunity to extend their lead with the boot.

Ashton Golding thought he’d added the Giants’ second of the game as he touched down in the corner before seeing play pulled back for a forward pass.

It took the introduction of Josh Reynolds for Hull to find a bit of joy in the attacking third of the field and after just a few minutes he had set up Manu Ma’u for a try, dabbing a delicate kick through the line for the Tonga international to touch down.

Hull couldn’t build on that, though, and after giving away a couple of silly errors, they were caught off guard by an early kick through the line and Chris McQueen scored under the posts. Lolohea scored another penalty on the stroke of half-time.

The Black and Whites started the second half well and Andre Savelio got himself over the line for their second try