Hull FC add to Catalans Dragons woes and climb off bottom of Super League

East Yorkshire again proved to be a tough hunting ground for the Catalans Dragons as they were felled 33-22 by Hull FC at the KC Stadium.

The French outfit were tipped by many as outsiders for the First Utility Super League crown in 2015 but they are showing few signs of shaking off the travel sickness which has held them back in previous years.

Catalans, who were thumped 50-20 by Hull KR last time out, drew first blood through Vincent Duport but a sloppy error allowed Marc Sneyd to score his first Hull FC try and the hosts kicked on with further first-half scores from Jordan Rankin, Steve Michaels and Fetuli Talanoa.

Thomas Bosc pounced on a mistake on the stroke of half-time but Tom Lineham's double put the game out of the Dragons' reach, and their late tries from Morgan Escare and Zeb Taia were more of the consolation variety as Hull lifted themselves off the bottom of the table.

The Dragons came out strongly, especially on defence, and had clearly been stung by conceding 90 points in their last two games.

Scoring points had not been a problem for Catalans and they were celebrating the first try of the night in the 14th minute when Duport touched down in the corner following Willie's Tonga's brilliant offload.

Hull struggled for any fluency but were handed a way into the game when a fumbled pass allowed Sneyd to pick up and race clear from 40 metres out to touch down.

That mistake dented the visitors' confidence and they found themselves behind soon after when Rankin took Leon Pryce's neat offload before showing a good turn of pace and then strength to get the ball down.

Catalans were all of a sudden dropping off tackles and Michaels was next to benefit as he broke through some flimsy attempts to score his first try for the Black and Whites.

Todd Carney, who was risked by Laurent Frayssinous just two weeks on from breaking a rib, left the field five minutes before the break and he was soon joined on the sidelines by Escare, who picked up an injury fielding a kick.

It got even worse for Catalans as Talanoa went over for Hull's fourth try after the ball was shifted from right to left through the hands of Sneyd and Rankin.

The Dragons looked down and out at 22-6, but were gifted a route back into the match when Hull forced a pass on halfway after the hooter and Bosc kicked ahead before racing clear to score.

Any hopes of a comeback similar to the one Catalans were on the receiving end of just across the city at the KC Lightstream Stadium last week were all but extinguished when Lineham's blistering pace earned him the first points of the second half.

Escare returned to the field to replace the injured Michael Oldfield but there was little he could do about Lineham's second try, a flying finish in the corner.

The Catalans full-back showed there was no lasting damage when he raced home from his own half after pouncing on a loose Hull pass.

Sneyd slotted over a drop-goal and the Airlie Birds were celebrating their first win since the opening weekend of the season despite Taia's powerful last-gasp effort that did little but close the Dragons' final deficit.

They remain in fourth place despite only two wins in six games, but will almost certainly drop two places when the remaining four teams play their round six matches on Sunday; Wakefield hosting Huddersfield while Widnes take on Hull KR.