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Hull FC vs Catalans (H) 18 - 30 L |
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06/07/08
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KC Stadium
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Ian Smith
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Catalans Dragons
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18 - 30
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Catalans Dragons’ pursuit of the engage Super League top spot showed no
signs of abating as they disposed of a wilting Hull FC side at the KC
Stadium.
Buoyed by their 30-14 win at Wakefield Wildcats on Tuesday, Mick
Potter’s men continued their outstanding form away from the south of
France this season by registering a seventh success on the road to move
them within a point of joint leaders Leeds Rhinos and St Helens.
They had looked to be cruising towards the win after effortlessly
opening up leads of 18-0 and 24-12, but it took Clint Greenshields’
late try to end the contest after a second-half rally from lowly Hull.
Hull’s season now rests solely on their Carnegie Challenge Cup
semi-final with Wakefield in three weeks’ time, although that too is
tinged with gloom as they will go before the RFL on Monday charged with
fielding the ineligible Jamie Thackray in two of the earlier rounds.
They are expected to receive a hefty punishment.
Having remained in England since the Wakefield game, the Dragons
highlighted their freshness by dominating the first-half, although the
12-0 interval scoreline betrayed how much better they were than Richard
Agar’s side.
Their superiority was built upon the sophisticated edge given to their
attack by the half-back pairing of Thomas Bosc and Adam Mogg and the
former was the architect of the game’s opening score on 12 minutes.
With Hull’s early indiscipline costing them territory, the visitors
found themselves well placed and did not waste their invitation to
attack the Hull line as Bosc produced a wonderful delayed pass that
sent Olivier Elima thundering across the try-line.
Bosc added the goal for a six-point lead that could nearly have been
extended moments later but for a superb cover tackle on Justin Murphy
by Gareth Raynor.
Murphy had looked a certainty to score after plucking Mogg’s kick from the air, only for Raynor to bundle him in-touch.
Hull then squandered a handy spell of possession with a string of
costly handling errors and as a result found themselves further adrift
by the break.
A long kick from Bosc forced young winger Tom Briscoe to be dragged out
of play and from the subsequent scrum Mogg created a stunning overlap
that resulted in Murphy skinning Shaun Berrigan and Kirk Yeaman to dive
over the line. Bosc again converted.
The seemingly routine nature of their performance continued into the
second-half as Jamal Fakir found the home defence absent as he trundled
over for a try worthy of his all-action performance.
But Hull then responded with a fine 20-minute burst that saw them score
two tries and squander another as they forced their way back into the
game.
Their first try was a close-range effort from Garreth Carvell who had
spent the majority of the afternoon being booed by his own fans after
announcing earlier in the week that he wished to reverse his decision
to sign a new three-year deal with the club.
Danny Tickle added the goal and when durable hooker Berrigan then
plundered his sixth score of the year with a dart from dummy-half Hull
were only six points adrift.
However, sandwiched in between the two scores, Casey McGuire produced a
stunning last-ditch tackle on Craig Hall who had raced the length of
the field to the corner and looked set to ground until McGuire’s tackle
forced him to spill possession over the line.
That looked all the more crucial when Mogg send Younes Khattabi racing
in at the corner, only for Hull to hit back with a well-worked try from
Briscoe who collected Hall’s neat kick to score.
But, with Hull desperate to find an opening to level the game
Greenshields towered above full-back Matt Sing to take in Bosc’s kick
and score under the posts. |
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| Sing, Briscoe, Yeaman, G. Horne, Raynor, Washbrook, Berrigan, Dowes, Houghton, Carvell, Manu, Tickle, Radford. |
Greenshields, Murphy, Wilson, Raguin, Khattabi, Mogg, Bosc, Chan, McGuire, Elima, Mounis, Fakir, Carlaw. |
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