Hull's recent upturn in fortunes continued at the Magic Weekend in Edinburgh as they edged a tight affair with Castleford 24-16.

Richard Agar's men, who won at Salford last week to end a run of six successive defeats, had trailed three times here before Danny Tickle's penalty and Danny Washbrook's try saw them over the line.

And while there was some controversy over both of their match-winning scores, Hull will be glad to return to east Yorkshire with a first Magic Weekend win under their belts after two narrow defeats in Cardiff over the last two years.

Castleford, with five wins in their last seven outings, lost full-back Richard Owen to injury within the opening three minutes, but it did not affect their start to the game, with only some smart work from Kirk Yeaman preventing James Evans scoring after Brent Sherwin's kick had caused panic in the Hull defence.

The Tigers went close again as Evans chased down another Sherwin kick and it was of little surprise when they took the lead on the back of a further piece of quick-thinking from the Australian scrum-half.

James Ford - on the field as a result of Owen's injury - was the scorer with 16 minutes gone, crossing under the posts after Sherwin had created a gap with a darting run through Hull's defence.

As lively as Castleford were, especially with the ball in the hands of either Sherwin or Brett Ferres, Hull were not helping their own cause, with a number of their players guilty of needless handing errors early in the tackle count.

Their impatience to score was nearly remedied as Yeaman was hauled back by Ryan Boyle when he looked set to burrow over for a century of tries for Hull, while Chris Thorman narrowly failed to take in Graeme Horne's ambitious pass after a flowing move.

But they did manage to level matters before the break, with Mike Burnett celebrating signing a new two-year deal on Friday with a 37th-minute try.

Castleford will point to a forward pass from Willie Manu in the build-up, but Hull pressed on and Burnett was on-hand to score after Mark Calderwood and Whiting had juggled Washbrook's high punt.

Cas opened up the second half with a fine flowing move involving Ryan McGoldrick, Chris Feather, Ford, Sherwin and Kirk Dixon, with only the covering Calderwood preventing Dixon from scoring.

The former Hull winger did not have to wait too long to cross, though, cleverly twisting his way over in the corner after Evans had linked up with Sione Faumuina, another ex-Hull player, after a rampaging run from Mitchell Sargent.

Peter Cusack soon followed Sargent's lead with a short-range drive which took him over the line despite the attentions of three defenders, with Tickle's second goal edging Hull into a 12-10 lead.

Their lead proved to be short-lived as Castleford struck back with a stunning score from Evans which owed everything to Dixon's agility as he patted Sherwin's floated kick back into play following an off-the-cuff move which involved most of their players.

The see-saw nature of the game continued as Hull again fought back, with Richard Whiting going over for a third try in five games after Washbrook had kicked ahead and then gathered the loose ball to feed the centre, although Tickle's failed conversion left the scores locked at 16-16.

Controversy then ensued as referee Phil Bentham penalised Calderwood for interference as Michael Wainwright attempted to play the ball, only to reverse his decision, allowing Tickle to find his range and kick Hull ahead.

And Castleford's anger was then roused even more as Bentham harshly ruled that Michael Shenton had brushed a long kick into touch, handing Hull a scrum from which Washbrook bagged himself a deserved try.