HULL FC 24 CATALANS DRAGONS 20
RICKY WILBY, MKM Stadium, Sunday
HULL FC survived a dramatic second-half fightback from Catalans to secure a second consecutive win.
In a clichéd game of two halves, the Black and Whites ran in 22 unanswered points in the first half before conceding 20 in the second half.
Zak Hardaker’s penalty three minutes from time was their only points after the interval, although they still had to hold on until the hooter to successfully back up their win over Leeds seven days prior.
Catalans only had themselves to blame as error after error allowed the home side to run up an unassailable lead in the first half.
Toby Sexton and Charlie Staines helped launch a fightback in the final quarter, but a first half that saw them complete at 60 percent and fail to trouble the scoreboard proved to be crucial.
Hull welcomed Logan Moy into their starting line-up for his first appearance of the season as Aiden Sezer and Cade Cust both missed the game, as Zak Hardaker moved to half and produced a man-of-the-match display.
Ryan Sheridan and Mitchell Pearce took charge of Catalans as Joel Tomkins was away with a personal issue.
Catalans were also missing a host of players following their win over Hull KR, with Josh Allen, Julian Bousquet, Lewis Dodd and Matthieu Laguerre all missing following injury.
And they suffered the loss of Alrix Da Costa in the opening minutes to a calf injury, followed later in the first half by captain Ben Garcia who failed an HIA.
Hull opened the scoring in the fifth minute as a smart kick from Jake Arthur to the right edge was claimed by Arthur Romano. The former Dragon collected above his head and raced over to score, with Hardaker converting.
Last weekend’s hero against Hull KR, Lenny Marc, gifted the hosts field position on the Catalans line and smart thinking from James Bell sent the ball to the left wing where Lewis Martin dived over in the corner. Hardaker missed his only goal attempt of the day, putting the score at 10-0.
The home side were rampant, another Arthur kick wasn’t collected by the Dragons, Davy Litten knocking the ball back as Bell, again, was the beneficiary. The second-rower tipped the ball inside to the supporting Moy who raced over to the left of the posts.
Catalans were their own worst enemies and Charlie Staines knocking on when fielding a kick gifted the home side more field position. Sam Lisone, with his first touch off the bench, charged onto a short ball and crashed over to score despite the best efforts of three Dragon defenders and Hardaker added his third conversion.
The Black and Whites continued their dominance in the early stages of the second half, only the bounce of the ball preventing first Tom Briscoe, then Romano, from extending the home lead.
Things turned suddenly on the hour when Catalans raced away after a poor end to a Hull attacking set. Although Hardaker chased down Darrélatour, Catalans had the Hull defence stretched and sent the ball to the right edge to Marc, who handed off one defender and touched down.
Catalans were back into the game with a second try five minutes later. A Sexton offload and smart play from Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e set Darrélatour away down the left and the French winger touched down in the corner, with Sexton adding the conversion.
With ten minutes remaining, Sexton and Staines combined to send Darrélatour over in the corner again, but this time Sexton could not convert – just as for the Dragons’ first – to leave the Hull lead at eight points and set up a nail-biting finish.
From the restart, Kruise Leeming combined with Sexton and an inside ball to Staines saw the Catalans fullback race 70 metres to round his opposite number and outpace the chasing Martin to score.
Sexton converted to narrow the deficit to two points, but Hardaker added a penalty with three minutes remaining to make that four.
GAMESTAR: Zak Hardaker was brilliant at stand-off for the home side. Slick in attack and solid in defence, even chasing down a flying Catalans winger in the second half.
GAMEBREAKER: Toby Sexton’s missed conversions from the touchline always meant that the Catalans had too much to do to clawback the first half deficit.
HIGHLIGHT REEL: Logan Moy’s try midway through the first half highlighted everything Hull were doing well, good kick, great chase and brilliant support play.
ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Zak Hardaker (Hull FC)
2 pts James Bell (Hull FC)
1 pt Toby Sexton (Catalans)
MATCHFACTS
HULL FC
24 Logan Moy
19 Tom Briscoe
21 Arthur Romano
3 Davy Litten
5 Lewis Martin
4 Zak Hardaker
6 Jake Arthur
18 Ligi Sao
9 Amir Bourouh
10 Harvie Hill
15 James Bell
22 Connor Bailey
13 John Asiata
Subs (all used)
16 Sam Lisone
23 Brad Fash
25 Matty Laidlaw
27 Callum Kemp
18th man (not used)
30 Will Kirby
Also in 21-man squad
29 Will Hutchinson
35 Ben Johnson
36 Lennon Clark
Tries: Romano (5), Martin (13), Moy (17), Lisone (26)
Goals: Hardaker 4/5
DRAGONS
1 Charlie Staines
3 Nick Cotric
25 Lenny Marc
4 Solomona Faataape
28 Léo Darrélatour
6 Toby Sexton
14 Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e
15 Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui
9 Alrix Da Costa
17 Romain Navarrete
20 Zac Lipowicz
12 Ben Condon
13 Ben Garcia
Subs (all used)
8 Tevita Satae
18 Harvey Wilson
19 Kruise Leeming
30 Alexis Lis
18th man (not used)
24 Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet
Also in 21-man squad
2 Tommy Makinson
7 Lewis Dodd
26 Ugo Tison
Tries: Marc (60), Darrélatour (65, 70), Staines (72)
Goals: Sexton 2/4
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 10-0, 16-0, 22-0; 22-4, 22-10, 22-14, 22-20, 24-20
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Hull FC: Zak Hardaker; Dragons: Toby Sexton
Penalty count: 8-5
Half-time: 22-0
Referee: Liam Rush
Attendance: 12,123