Super League: Hull FC 10-27 Catalans Dragons

Sam Kasiano scored Catalans Dragons' first try in the win over Hull

Hull FC's return to the KCOM Stadium for the first time since mid-March 2020 ended in defeat at the hands of a resurgent Catalans Dragons.

It was 4-4 at the break, as Mahe Fonua's try was cancelled out by Catalans penalties from James Maloney and Arthur Mourgue.

The home side struck first after the break when Josh Reynolds crossed, but the game then unravelled for Hull.

Sam Kasiano, Mike McMeeken and Tom Davies crossed as Catalans romped home.

Hull's 25,000-capacity home allowed for a crowd of 6,000 to roar them on at the KCOM, although much had changed since the last time fans had made their way through the turnstiles for what proved to be Lee Radford's last game in charge.

That Warrington defeat felt like an age ago as Andy Last's tenure was played out before no crowds, and new boss Brett Hodgson's first taste of the Airlie Birds' fanbase came on the back of an excellent start to the season behind closed doors.

Yet it was a son of Hull, in Catalans coach Steve McNamara, who was to see the return spoilt with his side producing an impressive second-half display.

It was all going swimmingly for Hodgson's side when the lively Reynolds burst over to give them the lead after the break, but once Kasiano steamrollered in and McMeeken continued his prolific form, the game stretched away.

Tevita Satae was sin-binned late on, and Davies, another in fine scoring form, grounded twice late on, in tandem with Maloney's drop-goal, to ease Catalans clear.

Hull FC head coach Brett Hodgson:

"Disappointed, obviously. Catalans came with a good game plan, they put us in the corner and pretty much ground out an 80-minute performance, which is something we wanted to do.

"Again, I thought we learned some good lessons on how to play against a top-line team and unfortunately, we came up short today.

"They definitely had a solid 80 minutes and we had areas which we can still improve.

"I'm disappointed that we didn't play well enough to get the result and the crowds coming back is brilliant. You could hear the atmosphere, they tried to get us home but unfortunately we weren't good enough today.

"I'm really excited about the next time, it's many weeks now until we can come back here, but the next time we are here, we'll give a little bit better performance to make sure they go away smiling."

Catalans boss Steve McNamara:

"That was an extremely tough game. We managed to get the ascendancy at the right time and made them pay.

"In general, I was really, really pleased. I thought it was a really resilient performance. We knew we had to come here and play extremely well to win.

"We are really proud of that, to be fair. To come here, on the day, get the job done and get back (to France) as quick as we can now."

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Hull FC: Connor; Fonua, Tuimavave, Griffin, Swift; Reynolds, Sneyd; Sao, Houghton, Satae, Savelio, Ma'u, Lane.

Interchanges: Cator, Fash, Johnstone, Scott.

Sin-bin: Tuimavave (19), Satae (72)

Catalans Dragons: S. Tomkins; Davies, Whare, Langi, Yaha; Maloney, Drinkwater, Bousquet, McIlorum, J. Tomkins, Jullien, McMeeken, Garcia.

Interchanges: Mourgue, Goudemand, Baitieri, Kasiano.

Sin-bin: Maloney (13)

Referee: Chris Kendall (RFL).