Hull get back on track

Tickle: Passed 1,000 points for Hull

Hull gave their coach Richard Agar a timely boost with an impressive 40-8 victory over Catalan Dragons on Friday night.

Agar has come under further pressure recently following the club's mini-slump that has seen them slip into a battle to finish in the top eight.

But with two valuable points they remain favourites to complete the line-up for the post-season play-offs.

The Dragons will also be there but this was one of their more abject and ill-disciplined performances as they strive for a top-four slot.

Hull could not afford a slow start after having their momentum checked by three successive defeats - and prop Sam Moa ensured they did not get one.

The Tongan made an unexpected recovery after seemingly having his season ended by a knee injury against Wigan last time out, and took in Danny Houghton's short pass to barrel his way over after three minutes.

Danny Tickle added the conversion and it could have been even better for Hull had Tom Briscoe kept a hold of the ball following a break.

As it was, Catalan opened their account for the night not long after.

A Cameron Phelps tackle had already denied Jean-Philippe Baile close to the line and, after a penalty, the ball went left to Daryl Millard who forced his way over in the corner.

Playmaker Scott Dureau, back after a month-long absence, missed with the conversion and his side were soon eight points behind.

Poor discipline from the Perpignan outfit invited Hull on to them with a string of penalties and, after the Black and Whites got in range, the potent left-side combination of Tom Briscoe and Kirk Yeaman clicked into gear, with the former breaking and supplying the latter for his 19th try of the season.

Tickle again converted, this time from wide out, and had the chance to add two more goals before the break as the Catalans continued to concede cheap penalties.

It was only a matter of time before referee Steve Ganson lost his patience with them and he duly sent Cyrille Gossard to the sin bin three minutes before the interval.

Advantage

Hull were intent on making the most of their numerical advantage and took just 50 seconds of the second half to do so.

Strong-running England wing Briscoe was again involved, fending off Damien Blanch before handing inside to Richard Horne, the scrum-half having the sense to return the ball inside to Phelps who crossed.

Tickle again converted, his ninth and 10th points of the night taking him past 1,000 for the club since joining from Wigan in 2007.

Some robust Hull defence allowed them to drag Blanch in touch from the restart and the floodgates opened further in the subsequent set, with Lee Radford going through a large gap under the posts to score.

The return of Gossard did little to help the French side and Joe Westerman showed and stepped his way through the right-hand side of their defence for a third score to have come down that flank.

Another was not long in coming, Horne getting his just rewards after picking up a Yeaman offload, before Vincent Duport crept in for a scarcely-deserved consolation.

Yeaman would end the game in the sin bin, though, after being given a yellow card for fighting.