HULL FC 4 TOULOUSE OLYMPIQUE 12
CALLUM WALKER, MKM Stadium, Sunday

TOULOUSE snapped a seven-game losing run with a magnificent defensive display over a lacklustre Hull FC.

Led by the ever-impressive Olly Ashall-Bott, the French side weathered considerable storms either side of half-time, but the Black and Whites will have been ruing a dreadful attacking display.

That was despite Andy Last making just one change to the line-up that put 50 points on Castleford Tigers last week, with Joe Batchelor replacing Ligi Sao who was unavailable through head-injury protocols.

For Toulouse, Mathieu Jussaume took Reubenn Rennie’s place in the centres, as Jake Shorrocks and James Roumanos came in for Thomas Lacans and Lambert Belmas.

The visitors could not have started better with Ashall-Bott finding Luke Polselli on halfway for their first attack. The Toulouse centre cantered through a huge hole before feeding his fullback on the inside for a scintillating score. Shorrocks converted for a 6-0 lead after seven minutes.

Connor Bailey left the field with his arm in a sling with Batchelor marking his return earlier than expected off the bench, but it mattered little when Tom Briscoe dropped a high kick and former Hull forward Joe Cator powered through soft defence shortly after. Shorrocks made it 12-0.

Shorrocks took an almighty whack from Amir Bourouh with both having to leave the field for a HIA. Both passed, but a moment of parity ensued before two Hull penalties paved the way for the hosts to finally hit back.

It took Hull half an hour to cross the whitewash, but it was a fine move that saw Briscoe slide over in the corner. Zak Hardaker, however, couldn’t convert as Toulouse led 12-4 at half-time – and that’s exactly how it stayed until the end.

Harry Newman forced a drop-out immediately following the resumption, but that came to nought as Hull looked for a way back.

Newman was in the thick of the action moments later too as the on-loan centre tackled Polselli behind his own line when the former chased Aidan Sezer’s grubber.

But Toulouse went short and gleefully pounced upon Newman’s error to stave off another Black and Whites attack.

Continuous six agains and penalties had Hull camped down in the French side’s half as Sezer’s next kick was booted out by Polselli for another drop-out.

Again, though, Toulouse won the short restart to fight another day.

The pressure by now was relentless but Newman’s wayward kick let the visitors off the hook once more.

On the hour, Hull successfully challenged a knock-on decision that instead saw them awarded a penalty for a tip tackle, but there was little magic from halfbacks Sezer and Jake Arthur with another kick going awry.

Ashall-Bott somehow scrambled back to recover a neat Davy Litten grubber, taking a whack to the ribs for his troubles.

Two more six agains and a failed short drop-out handed Last’s men even more possession and field position and, with Shorrocks having to leave the field again for a second HIA, Hull should have pounced.

But again Sylvain Houles’ side somehow held out to register a famous victory and leapfrog Castleford on the Super League ladder into twelfth.

GAMESTAR: Olly Ashall-Bott was here, there and everywhere defensively and popped up for a stellar try.

GAMEBREAKER: Hull FC’s failure to cross despite numerous back-to-back sets on the hour gave Toulouse heart.

HIGHLIGHT REEL: Olly Ashall-Bott’s try was a thing of beauty.

ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Olly Ashall-Bott (Toulouse)
2 pts Luke Polselli (Toulouse)
1 pt Jake Shorrocks (Toulouse)

MATCHFACTS

HULL FC
24 Logan Moy
19 Tom Briscoe
37 Harry Newman
3 Davy Litten
5 Lewis Martin
6 Jake Arthur
7 Aidan Sezer
23 Brad Fash
9 Amir Bourouh
10 Harvie Hill
22 Connor Bailey
4 Zak Hardaker
15 James Bell
Subs (all used)
11 Joe Batchelor
14 Cade Cust
20 Yusuf Aydin
38 Jeremiah Mata’utia
18th man (not used)
25 Matty Laidlaw
Also in 21-man squad
2 Harvey Barron
29 Will Hutchinson
36 Lennon Clark

Tries: Briscoe (32)
Goals: Hardaker 0/1

OLYMPIQUE
1 Olly Ashall-Bott
2 Paul Ulberg
12 Mathieu Jussaume
25 Luke Polselli
5 Benjamin Laguerre
29 César Rougé
7 Jake Shorrocks
10 James Roumanos
9 Brendan Hands
30 Tiaki Chan
22 Henry O’Kane
11 Maxime Stefani
15 Joe Cator
Subs (all used)
13 Anthony Marion
17 Rob Butler
20 AJ Wallace
21 Ellis Gillam
18th man (not used)
18 Baptiste Rodriguez
Also in 21-man squad
3 Reubenn Rennie
6 Thomas Lacans
8 Lambert Belmas

Tries: Ashall-Bott (6), Cator (10)
Goals: Shorrocks 2/2

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-12, 4-12; 4-12

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Hull FC: Logan Moy; Olympique: Olly Ashall-Bott

Penalty count: 6-2
Half-time: 4-12
Referee: Matty Lynn
Attendance: 12,612