Hull FC edge out Catalans Dragons to climb into top four – League Express match report

Reynolds stars as Hull edge out the Dragons
HULL FC 14
CATALANS DRAGONS 8
CHRIS JONES at the MKM Stadium, Sunday
Albert Goldthorpe Medal
3pts Josh Reynolds Hull FC
2pts Danny Houghton Hull FC
1pt Darnell McIntosh Hull FC
STORY OF THE GAME
Mins                            Score
17   Jordan Lane try   4-0
       Jake Connor goal (1/1)   6-0
27   Fouad Yaha try   6-4
       Arthur Mourgue missed goal (0/1)   6-4
31   Chris Satae try   10-4
       Jake Connor goal (2/2)   12-4
35   Injury: Josh Drinkwater (foot)
40   Jake Connor penalty (3/3)   14-4
HALF TIME
67   Mitchell Pearce try   14-8
       Arthur Mourgue missed goal (0/2)   14-8
70   Injury: Danny Houghton (head)
77   Jake Connor missed penalty (3/4)   14-8
FULL TIME
HULL FC have moved up into fourth place in the Super League table after this important and comprehensive victory over Catalans Dragons at the MKM Stadium, going level on points with their city rivals Hull Kingston Rovers, but with a superior points difference, while they are now just two points behind the Dragons, who remain in third place.
The Airlie Birds were missing their captain Luke Gale, who was suspended for two matches by the RFL last week for a trip in last Monday’s game against Warrington Wolves.
Hull were also missing the injured Andre Savelio, Jake Griffin and Adam Swift, but on a more positive note they welcomed back Scott Taylor for his first game of the season after a lengthy absence with a foot injury, while the Hull fans paid tribute to their stalwart Danny Houghton, who was playing his 400th career game at the age of 33, having made his debut 15 years earlier in 2007.
Hull coach Brett Hodgson also recalled Josh Reynolds to the stand-off role, after leaving him out against Warrington, and he was partnering Joe Lovodua in the halfbacks, with Ben McNamara out injured.
And Hodgson was able to select Brad Fash at loose forward after successfully fighting a biting charge from the recent Hull derby.
The Dragons were still missing Sam Tomkins with injury, so Arthur Mourgue was selected at fullback, while they were also missing centres Samisoni Langi and Dean Whare, as well as backrower Mike McMeeken.
It meant that coach Steve McNamara began the game with a centre partnership of Tyrone May and Matthieu Laguerre and, although Julian Bousquet was included in the 21-man squad, the coach decided not to risk him in this game.
The game was expected to be a tight and tense battle and in that sense it didn’t disappoint, with the eventual six-point margin reflecting three goals kicked by Jake Connor for Hull, while Mourgue missed both of his conversion attempts.
Darnell McIntosh is a growing presence in the Hull side and he created the first incident of note when his kick won a goal-line dropout in the eleventh minute and Hull mounted strong pressure on the Dragons’ line, eventually resulting in the opening try when Houghton from dummy-half cleverly put Jordan Lane into a big hole in the Dragons’ defence for Connor’s goal to open a 6-0 lead for Hull.
The Dragons tries to respond and their captain Ben Garcia had a good run out of defence, but the move ended with a bone shaker of a tackle by McIntosh on Laguerre.
Taylor came off the bench in the 25th minute to a great reception from the fans but it was the Dragons who would be the next to score when Fouad Yaha touched down a clever Josh Drinkwater grubber into the in-goal, which was his 87th try for the Dragons, drawing him level with Vincent Duport, who touched down 87 times in 198 appearances for the club between 2007 and 2018.
Mourgue couldn’t convert from the touchline and it would be Hull who would score the next try when Chris Satae charged over the line and couldn’t be stopped by Tyrone May, with Houghton again giving the assist and Connor adding the goal to make it 12-4 on 31 minutes.
Three minutes later the Dragons suffered a severe blow when Drinkwater limped off the field with a foot injury and he would not return.
It meant that May moved into the halves to partner Pearce, whose kicking game had caused few problems for Hull in the first half, which was typified when Lovodua collected a harmless kick from him two minutes from the interval.
Early in the second half, McIntosh and May had a dust-up following McIntosh pulling Garcia off Tuimavave after the Hull centre had been tackled. The Catalans got the penalty but another Mitchell grubber to the corner went harmlessly into touch-in-goal ahead of Tom Davies.
In contrast to that, a Reynolds bomb won a goal-line dropout as Davies was tackled behind his own line and that was followed by a great charge from Lovodua which came to nought after a poor grubber from Connor.
It wasn’t one of Connor’s best games and he compounded his troubles by knocking on trying to play the ball, handing the initiative back to the Catalans. Pearce kicked to the line but Reynolds brilliantly ran the ball out of defence.
But the Connor dropped a Pearce bomb behind him and the Catalans won a goal-line dropout that led to their second try.
It began with an offload by Laguerre, with some smart work by the Dragons’ backs and  Pearce scored in the face of a tackle by Connor and Jack Brown, with the video-referee confirming he got the ball down. Mourgue missed the conversion and it was 14-8.
With ten minutes remaining Houghton left the field with a head knock and Hull saw both Satae and Connor knock on, giving the Dragons opportunities that they couldn’t take.
But with three minutes remaining they conceded a penalty just inside their own half and Connor ensured that the clock ticked towards full-time as he lined up an unsuccessful kick at goal, with the ball falling just short of the posts.
It allowed the Dragons to have one last throw of the dice, but when Mourgue was tackled on the sixth with just 20 seconds remaining, the Hull  supporters could breathe again and celebrate their victory.
GAMESTAR: Josh Reynolds was recalled to the Hull side and responded by having one of his best performances for Hull, with his kicking game overshadowing that of his opposite number Mitchell Pearce
GAMEBREAKER: With 20 seconds remaining, the Catalans had the ball on the last tackle and Arthur Mourgue was tackled by a posse of Hull defenders to win the game.
TOP TACKLE: Darnell McIntosh is improving rapidly in a Hull jersey and his tackle on Matthieu Laguerre in the 25th minute was a bellringer
HIGHLIGHT REEL: Mitchell Pearce’s try in the 67th minute originated from a great offload by Matthieu Laguerre, which was followed by some astute passing and footwork, with Jake Connor and Jack Brown unable to prevent Pearce touching down.
 HULL
  1 Jake Connor
  5 Darnell McIntosh
  3 Carlos Tuimavave
25 Mitieli Vulikijapani
29 Jamie Shaul
  6 Josh Reynolds
14 Joe Lovodua
  8 Ligi Sao
  9 Danny Houghton
16 Kane Evans
12 Manu Ma’u
13 Jordan Lane (C)
17 Brad Fash
Subs: (all used)
10 Chris Satae
20 Jack Brown
21 Jordan Johnstone
30 Scott Taylor
Also in 21-man squad
22 Josh Bowden
27 Jacob Hookem
28 Aiden Burrell
32 Harvey Barron
DRAGONS
  1 Arthur Mourgue
  2 Tom Davies
20 Tyrone May
18 Matthieu Laguerre
  5 Fouad Yaha
  6 Mitchell Pearce
  7 Josh Drinkwater
  8 Gil Dudson
  9 Michael McIlorum
22 Dylan Napa
11 Matt Whitley
15 Benjamin Jullien
13 Benjamin Garcia (C)
Subs (all used)
14 Alrix Da Costa
16 Paul Seguier
17 Michael Goudemand
28 Sam Kasiano
Also in 21-man squad
10 Julian Bousquet
19 Arthur Romano
24 Mathieu Cozza
25 Cesar Rougé
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Hull: Josh Reynolds
Dragons: Matthieu Laguerre
Penalty count: 5-2
Six again: 2-1
GLDO forced: 2-1
Half-time: 14-4
Referee: James Child
Attendance: