By IAN JUDSON
HULL FC claimed their second consecutive win at the MKM Stadium as they saw off a brave fightback from Catalans Dragons.
Hull had effectively done enough to win the match in the first half as they raced into a 22-0 lead before the break.
The team from Stade Gilbert Brutus fought back as they rattled up four tries, but were just denied in the end by an enthusiastic Hull, thanks much also to their own indiscipline.
Team News:
John Cartwright brought Logan Moy in at fullback for his first appearance of the season, with Zak Hardaker moving into the halves to replace the suspended Cade Cust.
Callum Kemp was on the bench again having been there for the victory over Leeds the previous week.
Arthur Romano remained at centre for his first game against his former club with John Cartwright keeping necessary changes to a minimum.
The Match:
Hull were the recipients of the first penalty, which saw them cross into the Dragons half and setup a promising position.
A subsequent Jake Arthur kick was grabbed out of the air by Arthur Romano who gleefully crossed against his old club, the try was converted by Zak Hardaker.
The visitors gained back-to-back penalties, the second of which was in Hull’s danger zone, but some uncompromising defending forced a mistake as NRL bound Toby Sexton dropped the ball.
Hull then rolled Catalans back downfield and, after they just held Davy Litten out, another mistake by the Dragons was pounced upon for a simple try for Lewis Martin.
Hull then went and carved a huge gap through the Dragons defence with a kick by Jake Arthur claimed and handed back inside to Logan Moy to race over, goaled by Hardaker.
Hull were being aggressive in defence and finding yardage easy to come by as the game entered its second quarter, with Joel Tomkins’ side clearly struggling to contain them.
Hull were able to build more pressure as Charlie Staines dropped a Jake Arthur kick, before Hull were awarded a penalty.
As Sam Lisone took to the field, his first job was to charge onto a deft pass and bash his way over for his first try for his new club, Hardaker’s boot added the extras.
Catalans were handed some much needed field position by a penalty in Hull’s danger zone, but for a second time they saw one of their number simply bundled into touch.
To their credit, the visitors kept asking questions of Hull, however these were often then punctuated by mistakes from the French outfit.
Hull went within a whisker of another try as the half drew to a close, but were controversially denied by what appeared to be a high tackle.
The enthusiasm that was on display from the Black & Whites the previous week against Leeds was clearly there again for all to see.
Hull continued to physically dominate the visitors in the early part of the second half, but a few times were guilty of trying to over elaborate, costing them scoring opportunities.
Hull were forced to drop out from under their own posts after dealing with a Toby Sexton grubber, but once again, aggressive defending kept them out.
Catalans were afforded an opportunity with a breakaway which was halted by Zak Hardaker, but the ball was moved right and Lenny Marc got them on the board as the game entered its final quarter.
Catalans grabbed an impressive second try as they started to chance their arm and Leo Darrelatour crossed in the corner, Sexton reduced the arrears to 12 points with the boot.
With 10 minutes remaining, Darrelatour grabbed a second try in the corner as Hull’s lead came into danger of evaporating.
It was Catalans who had all the momentum as Charlie Staines then cut through Hull’s defence too easily to race 80 metres to score, Sexton’s boot made it a two point game.
Hull were clearly in panic mode as a grubber kick had to be forced dead, forcing them to drop out from under the posts again.
However, a dropped ball was claimed by Logan Moy and Hull then forced the Dragons to drop out from under their posts as a John Asiata grubber was taken dead by a desperate defence.
From the drop out, Connor Bailey was tackled in the air, handing Hull a penalty which Hardaker extended the lead to four points, while also taking time off the clock.
A penalty for a high shot on Moy in the last minute saw the Airlie Birds finally get the result over the line in a fashion that could be argued was almost as intense as this week’s Hull Derby.