What a win for Hull FC in Perpignan.
Hull FC in action at Catalans Dragons. (Image: Catalans Dragons)
Hull FC produced a superb comeback to defeat Catalans Dragons 27-26 in the South of France on Saturday night. The Black and Whites trailed by 12 points into the second half, but in a game that swung one and then the other, and then back again, they rallied with Jake Arthur landing the decisive blow with a well-taken drop-goal.
In truth, it was nothing less than Hull deserved. They were far from perfect, but they stood up when it mattered most with influential displays from the likes of Joe Batchelor, Aidan Sezer, and James Bell. They threw some shape at Catalans, scored some well-taken tries, and got themselves in position to land one of their most famous wins in Perpignan against former coach John Cartwright.
For the travelling fans, of which there were over 1,200, it was a moment to savour, getting something to shout about in what has been a difficult season to say the least. But credit where its due. At times, Hull were sloppy and they made too many fundamental errors, but they also played some slick rugby league and hit the Dragons were it hurt to come away with a fine win.
The Black and Whites made two changes to their side, with Tom Briscoe and Will Hutchinson coming in for Cade Cust and Hugo Salabio. Meanwhile, Catalans fielded 2027 Hull signing Alrix Da Costa at loose-forward, with a tasty clash unfolding in Perpignan.
Hull started well and got points on the board early through Logan Moy. The young full-back was put into space from a well-executed shift play from James Bell and Aidan Sezer, before dummying his way over to score.
Playing on the front foot, Hull got over again through Lewis Martin, who took Arthur Romano’s offload to score in the corner. But Catalans hit back through Charlie Staines, who took on the line and evaded the cover defence to score.
Hull stretched their lead to eight with a couple of Sezer penalty goals, one after a high shot from Da Costa on Ethan O’Neill, but the lead was cut to just two points at the break.
The away side became sloppy as the first-half endured, not playing the ball properly, forward passes from acting half, etc., creeping into their game. The Dragons took the invitation with Toby Sexton running the ball strong and finding Kruise Leeming to score just before the hooter.
The second half started in controversial fashion, with Davy Litten seeing a try chalked off by the video referee, who overturned the live decision. The centre was judged to have knocked on in grounded, despite seemingly being taken high from Tommy Makinson.
It was a big moment, and Hull didn’t recover, with Catalans instead getting on the front foot and scoring through Edenn Rogers-Smith, who grounded Leeming’s kick to score.
The Dragons then landed a penalty goal and were given another good ball set with Hull offside from the restart. They didn’t need a second invitation as Leo Darrelatour dived over in the corner.
But Hull then rolled the sleeves up. First Harvie Hill struck with a try that any half would have been proud of, dummying his way over from 30 metres out, before Aidan Sezer levelled the game with a superb try involving O’Neill and Tom Briscoe.
The game then went set for set, with Arthur landing the winning moment with the drop goal, and ensuring it was Old Faithful that was sung long into the night. What a game.
Teams
Catalans Starting XIII: 1. Charlie Staines; 28. Leo Darrelatour, 3. Nick Cotric, 24. Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet, 2. Tommy Makinson; 6. Toby Sexton, 7. Lewis Dodd; 16. Josh Allen, 19. Kruise Leeming, 17. Romain Navarrete; 13. Benjamin Garcia, 33. Edenn Rogers Smith; 9. Alrix Da Costa.
Interchange: 10. Julian Bousquet, 12. Ben Condon, 21. Matthieu Laguerre, 29. Giovanni Descalzi.. 18th Man: 30. Alexis Lis
Hull Starting XIII: 24. Logan Moy; 2. Harvey Barron, 3. Davy Litten, 21. Arthur Romano, 5. Lewis Martin; 6. Jake Arthur, 7. Aidan Sezer; 8. Herman Ese’ese, 9. Amir Bourouh, 10. Harvie Hill; 11. Joe Batchelor, 39. Ethan O’Neill; 15. James Bell.
Interchange: 16. Sam Lisone, 18. Ligi Sao, 19. Tom Briscoe, 29. Will Hutchinson. 18th Man: 26. Hugo Salabio
Scorers
Catalans Tries: Staines, Leeming, Rogers-Smith, Darrelatour. Goals: Aispuro-Bichet 5/5
Hull Tries: Moy, Martin, Hill, Sezer. Goals: Sezer 5/6. Drop-Goal: Arthur
Scoring System: 0-6, 0-10, 6-10, 6-12, 6-14, 12-14, HT, 18-14, 20-14, 26-14, 26-20, 26-26, 26-27, FT
Referee: Tara Jones. Video Referee: Ryan Cox
Attendance: TBC