Hull FC were too good for Catalans Dragons on Friday night at Stade Gilbert Brutus. That’s the belief of Catalans boss Steve McNamara who was left to rue his side’s lack of clinical edge on the opening day of the new Super League season.
Catalans started well and tested the Black and Whites’ defence in the south of France, but they couldn’t maintain control as John Cartwright’s side scored three first half tries through Jordan Lane, Cade Cust and Tom Briscoe.
Arthur Mourgue hit back just after the break to give Catalans hope of a comeback, but Hull stood firm once more and when Cust touched down after a Dragons knock on with just over 15 minutes remaining, there was only going to be one winner, with FC overcoming sizeable odds to beat their star-studded opposition, who had six new signings involved.
“I thought it was a really tough game early on but we stopped moving on a couple of plays,” McNamara told Sky Sports. “There was a deflection there and at this stage of the season when there’s not a lot in the game you only have to stop once or twice to get beat on the scoreboard,
“That’s what happened tonight, we had some opportunities ourselves, we didn’t execute them and we were held up over the line a couple of times. Ultimately Hull outworked us in those key areas and picked up enough points and won comfortably on the scoreboard.
“It’s disappointing for us. We have had a really good pre-season and we felt we were ready to go and we were at the start of the game. It’s a big lesson for us there, you have take opportunities and work a little bit harder than the opposition at this stage of the year until you’re in full flow. We didn’t quite do that and we paid the price.”
Asked whether Romain Navarrete’s early head knock made an impact, McNamara added: “It happens, concussions etc, that’s what happens. There’s a little bit of that and we were going well at that stage but Hull were too good for us tonight.”
