A disappointing display from the Black & Whites in Perpignan saw Hull fall to their first defeat of the season.
Six tries from the Dragons saw the hosts run out 38-6 winners at the Stade Gilbert Brutus, with Hull failing to find a foothold in the game after a strong opening quarter from Steve McNamara’s men.
Andre Savelio scored Hull’s only try of the night in the closing stages.
Team News
Tony Smith made three changes to the side that featured against the Rhinos last weekend, with Jack Brown, Ligi Sao, and Andre Savelio coming onto the bench.
The trio, who made their first appearance of the new season, replaced Joe Cator and Danny Houghton, who were rested, and Scott Taylor who served his one-match suspension.
Carlos Tuimavave, Jake Trueman, Connor Wynne, and Mitieli Vulikijapani were also unavailable through injury.
The Match
The hosts got the first points on the board courtesy of an Adam Keighran penalty goal after six minutes, awarded after a high shot from Chris Satae.
Darnell McIntosh came up with two try-saving tackles early in the game over on Hull’s right edge to keep the hosts at bay, but the Dragons wasted the best chance of the opening quarter themselves; Arthur Morgue showed some classy footwork to dance through the FC line, but his final pass to Mickael Goudemand went to ground.
The Dragons did open the scoring shortly after though, with Tom Johnstone diving over in acrobatic fashion in the corner.
It was a quick double for the hosts when some quick hands from Catalans allowed Paul Seguir to power through the Hull defensive line.
Keighran tried to make it a 16 point lead at the break, but his penalty attempt from his own half strayed wide.
Half-Time: Catalans Dragons 14-0 Hull FC
The Dragons continued when they left off after the restart, and had their third try of the evening just three minutes into the second-half when Mickael Goudemand hit a huge gap in the FC defensive line. Keighran’s fourth kick of the night made it a 20 point lead.
Steve McNamara’s side quickly had their fourth when a quick play the ball from Garcia allowed the loose-forard to get a pass away to powerful prop Siau Taukeiaho, who powered over under the sticks.
Matters got worse for Hull, and the Dragons didn’t let up – Tiaki Chan’s offload to Adam Keighran set up the hosts for their sixth of the evening just shy of the hour mark.
As the Dragons took their foot off the gas, Hull did manage to register a score as Andre Savelio managed to touch down form a charging run on his return to action, Clifford converted.
But there was still time for the host to add another when Garcia touched down from dummy-half in the final minute of the game.
Full-Time: Catalans Dragons 38-6 Hull FC
Squads:
Catalans: Arthur Morgue, Tom Davies, Adam Keighran, Arthur Romano, Tom Johnstone, Tyrone May, Cesar Rouge, Romaine Navarette, Micky McIlorum, Julian Bousquet, Mike McMeeken, Paul Seguier, Benjamin Garcia.
Interchange: Mickael Goudemand, Siua Taukeiaho, Jordan Dezaria, Tiaki Chan
18th Man: Matthiue Laguerre
Hull FC: Tex Hoy, Adam Swift, Liam Sutcliffe, Cam Scott, Darnell McIntosh, Jake Clifford, Ben McNamara, Kane Evans, Brad Dwyer, Chris Satae, Josh Griffin, Jordan Lane, Brad Fash
Interchange: Ligi Sao, Andre Savelio, Joe Lovodua, Jack Brown,
18th Man: Danny Houghton
Scorers:
Catalans Tries: Johnstone (18), Seguir (22), Goudemand (43,55), Taukeiaho (48), Garcia (78)
Catalans Goals: Keighran (78)
Hull FC Tries: Savelio (75)
Hull FC Goals: Clifford (1/1)
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