Hull FC withstand fightback to beat Catalans

Betfred Super League

Hull FC (22) 24

Tries: Romano, Martin, Moy, Lisone Goals: Hardaker 4

Catalans (0) 20

Tries: Marc, Darrelatour 2, Staines Goals: Sexton 2

Hull FC made it back-to-back wins as they withstood a strong Catalans Dragons fightback at MKM Stadium.

The Black and Whites beat Leeds Rhinos last week to end a run of three consecutive defeats, and dominated the first half against an inconsistent Dragons side who dramatically beat reigning world champions Hull Kingston Rovers in their previous outing.

The French side suffered a string of injuries in racking up that impressive win in Perpignan, and lost Alrix Da Costa and Benjamin Garcia in the opening 15 minutes of this match.

Arthur Romano, Lewis Martin, Logan Moy and Sam Lisone took advantage of poor Dragons defence to score first-half tries, but Leo Darrelatour scored twice to add to tries from Lenny Marc and Charlie Staines and make it a nervy finish for the home support.

Both sides were missing important players but Catalans lost Da Costa to a calf injury with barely 60 seconds on the clock and were soon behind as their defence remained grounded as former player Romano leapt high to catch Jake Arthur's kick and race under the posts.

Marc was the hero with a late try against Rovers last weekend, but his knock-on gifted Lewis Martin a try and then Logan Moy, making his first Hull appearance of the season in place of suspended Cade Cust, scored another after Davy Litten had won another steepling Arthur kick.

The errors kept on coming for Joel Tomkins' team and when Staines knocked on deep in his own territory, the Black and Whites took advantage as Sam Lisone crashed over the line with his first touch after going on as a replacement to make it 22-0 after just 26 minutes.

The Dragons tightened things up to prevent any further scores and in the second half showed the kind of resilience and spirit which they showed in beating Hull KR with four tries in the space of 12 minutes.

The excellent Zak Hardaker seemed to have stopped one breakaway with a fine tackle but Catalans kept the attack going and Marc scored in the corner to begin the fightback.

Darrelatour scored two quick tries, the second from a brilliant Staines cut-out pass, and then Samoa international Staines streaked away for a magnificent 70-metre solo try to cut the deficit to two points.

Hardaker gratefully accepted a penalty to interrupt the visitors' momentum and in a tense finish Hull held out for the win.

Hull FC coach John Cartwright told BBC Radio Humberside:

"It was a weird game, a game of two halves. All the things we spoke about before the game, the dangers, came to fruition in the second half.

"We are our own worst enemies on occasions. The things we did well in the first half - good kicking game, good intercepts, and pressure - just fell away a bit at the start of the second half.

"There was a lot of emphasis placed on Toby Sexton, [Charlie] Staines and [Kruise] Leeming, and it turned out that way in the second half. They got possession and momentum and were hard to stop.

"With 10 minutes to go I was starting to get really worried."

On the first half: "Really simple, sticking to a plan, a lot of energy, and it was all to do with the end of the sets. In the second half, our end of sets were not up to scratch."

Hull FC: Moy; Briscoe, Romano, Litten, Martin; Hardaker, Arthur; Sao, Bourouh, Hill, Bell, Bailey, Asiata.

Interchanges: Lisone, Fash, Laidlaw, Kemp

Catalans: Staines; Cotric, Marc, Faataape, Darrelatour; Sexton, Laulu-Togagae; Fa'asuamaleaui, Da Costa, Navarrete, Lipowicz, Condon, Garcia.

Interchanges: Satae, Wilson, Leeming, Lis.

Referee: Liam Rush