Castleford snatched a dramatic 14-12 win over champions Leeds with two late penalty goals from Jamie Ellis settling a gripping derby clash.
The Tigers, who scored through Jordan Tansey and Jake Webster, were 12-10 behind after converted tries from Danny McGuire and Ryan Hall until Ellis levelled matters with a 40-yard kick in the 74th minute. He was on target again five minutes later with a kick from in front of the posts as the Tigers grabbed their first win since last July.
St Helens maintained their 100 per cent Super League record against Widnes with a 16-4 win to give coach Nathan Brown his first success, but it took the 60th-minute dismissal of Vikings prop Ben Cross to swing the match their way.
The game was finely balanced with the scores locked at 4-4 when a mass brawl erupted on the hour following a high tackle on St Helens captain Paul Wellens. Referee James Child's response was to hand Cross a red card and send Widnes captain Jon Clarke to the sin bin and Saints took full advantage to seal victory with the aid of tries by Lee Gaskell and Francis Meli.
Hull muscled up in defence to get the better of Bradford 28-12 at the KC Stadium and put their opening-night misery behind them.
FC were comprehensively beaten, 36-6, by Leeds in the first game of the 2013 season last week, producing a meek performance that belied their status as title dark-horses. But they showed their mettle on Sunday, particularly in their own half, as they repelled a Bradford side on a high from their 40-point win over Wakefield last Sunday.
Tries from Jason Crookes, Shannon McDonnell, Tom Briscoe and Daniel Holdsworth, who also converted three of them, gave FC a 22-0 lead before a Matty Blythe try converted by Jamie Foster got Bradford on the board. Jay Pitts' score converted by Holdsworth then put Hull 28-6 up before Brett Kearney's try, which Foster converted, completed the scoring.
Hooker Shaun Lunt scored twice as Huddersfield powered to their second win with a 34-6 victory over London.
Lunt showed great feet to dodge with the ball between two defenders to reach the line on 19 minutes from Eorl Crabtree's final pass. The former Castleford ace then charged down an attempted clearance and dashed 50 yards for a stunning solo effort on 69 minutes.
Lunt was also involved in the game's opening try, scored by prop Crabtree, playing a new loose forward role, after eight minutes. Danny Brough, who kicked five goals in last week's 40-4 win at St Helens, converted five out of Huddersfield's six tries.
