Aidan Sezer is determined to give Hull FC’s young talents the platform to keep improving after Lewis Martin played a starring role in dethroning Betfred Challenge Cup holders Wigan Warriors.
Sezer was named player of the match as the Black and Whites fought back from a 22-6 deficit at half time to triumph 26-22 at The Brick Community Stadium on Saturday evening.
It was a second-half hat-trick of tries from 20-year-old winger Martin, who signed a new three-year contract earlier in the week, which sent Hull FC into the quarter-finals though, and his captain hailed the impact both he and the others coming through the academy are having.
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“I’ve always said since I came into the club that we’ve got a duty of care about these young blokes,” Sezer, 33, told BBC Sport.
“They’re really talented, but they have to be nurtured the right way. They love the club and they keep us older boys young.
“Credit to the boys, I know it’s a cliché but they really dug in and got the result on the right end.”
The meeting of the two teams in the Challenge Cup came in a year which marks the 40th anniversary of their iconic 1985 final encounter at Wembley.
On that occasion, Wigan triumphed 28-24 and they looked to be well on their way to victory in this match as tries from Zach Eckersley, Jai Field, Junior Nsemba and Liam Farrell helped them into a 16-point lead at the break, with Herman Ese’ese’s converted try all Hull FC could manage.
But despite having John Asiata sin-binned in the second half, the away side fought back as ex-Warriors hooker Amir Bourouh crossed followed by Martin’s treble to complete a stunning fightback.
Hull FC head coach John Cartwright praised his players for taking responsibility for turning the match around, particularly after they were trounced 46-4 at home to Wigan in the Betfred Super League three weeks ago.
“We’ve got an experienced crew in there so it was very player-led [at half time],” Cartwright told BBC Sport.
“We said before the game if you give them too many chances they’ll hurt you and, funnily enough, we gave them plenty of chances in the second half as well.
“The most pleasing thing about it was to cop a 40-point drubbing four weeks ago and turn that around on the back of a pretty big deficit again.”
Cartwright’s opposite number Matt Peet praised Hull FC for being better on the night, but would not be drawn on whether complacency cost his side and is only looking at how they respond to the manner of this defeat.
“It doesn’t really matter now – it’s about what we do next,” Peet told BBC Sport.
“It hurts, the players will be hurting as well and it has to hurt.
“We’ve had some good success and it might do us good to get a smack in the face.”
