Hull FC play-off bid ends with defeat by Catalans

Tommy Makinson scored his 200th Super League try

Betfred Super League

Hull FC (12) 22

Tries: Barron 2, Martin 2 Goals: Hardaker 3

Catalans Dragons (14) 26

Tries: Cotric, Makinson, Smith, Aispuro-Bichet 2 Goals: Aispuro-Bichet (3)

Hull FC's bid for the Super League play-offs ended as they lost at home to Catalans Dragons.

The Black and Whites had to win to stand any chance of finishing sixth, but this defeat handed a play-off place to Wakefield Trinity before their final regular season game.

Tries from Nick Cotric, Tommy Makinson and Reimis Smith put the visitors 14-12 up at half-time, before two tries from Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet after the break proved enough for victory.

Harvey Barron's two first-half tries kept Hull in touch but a quickfire second-half double from Lewis Martin came too late.

It was a fourth defeat from their final five games which meant Hull missed out on the top six.

Needing to win and hope Wakefield lost at beleaguered Salford, they began brightly and scored the opening try after just three minutes as a high kick was tapped back, and Zak Hardaker sent a perfectly weighted kick to the right wing that was taken by Barron to score.

The visitors quickly responded through Cotric, who bounced off a tackle and powered into the right corner, before a up-and-under on the last tackle fell kindly for the visitors and Makinson hurried in for his 200th Super League try, putting him fourth on the all-time list.

Hull replied with Tom Briscoe's quick thinking, as he sprinted out from his dead-ball line to take a restart, and he had Barron on his right shoulder to sprint round the covering defence from 70 metres out.

But it was Catalans who grabbed a third try midway through the half as Theo Fages floated a pass to the left wing, Makinson kept the ball alive when he was about to be tackled into touch, and his pass found Smith to dot down.

With seven minutes of the half remaining, Luke Keary was sent to the sin-bin for a high challenge on Callum Kemp, but the Dragons held on to reach the interval with a 14-12 lead.

They extended that shortly after the break as Logan Moy failed to take a high ball for Hull and it fell for Aispuro-Bichet to dive over the try line.

And the MKM Stadium fell silent when the French full-back soon scored his second try from close range after Arthur Romano had almost stepped his way to the line.

With their play-off dream almost extinguished at 26-12 down, Hull gave themselves hope as a loose ball fell for Aidan Sezer, who broke from halfway before sending Martin away into the left corner.

And moments later, Fouad Yaha conceded a penalty which led to a Hull grubber kick into the in-goal area, and after the Catalans winger failed to ground the ball, Martin slid in to score and reduce the deficit to just four.

A penalty gave Hull one final chance in the dying seconds, but they knocked-on to end their season.

Hull FC head coach John Cartwright told BBC Radio Humberside:

"It was a funny game to prepare for. The chances are it was going to be over for us anyway and Wakefield would probably have beaten Salford.

"The worst thing to happen to us was the early try. If there were any thoughts that it was going to be an easier game that made us think it even more so.

"And from that moment on it was Catalans with the ball. They played really well and hardly made any errors all game."

Catalan Dragons head coach Joel Tomkins said:

"I don't think either side played particularly well if you look at the game as a whole. The attitude and effort for us was outstanding.

"We're not where we'd like to be as a team and the way we play the game, but our attitude and effort have been good.

"Both of their tries in the first half were not with the run of play. There were individual errors but as a collective the critical mass of the team tried hard.

"To win four from five is pleasing. We won some games that on paper we shouldn't have won."

Hull FC: Moy; Barron, Briscoe, Litten, Martin; Kemp, Sezer; Aydin, Bourouh, Watts, Hardaker, Lane, Fash.

Interchanges: Cust, Gardiner, Balmforth, Laidlow.

Catalans Dragons: Aispuro-Bichet; Makinson, Cotric, Smith, Yaha; Keary, Fages; Dezaria, Da Costa, Garcia, Pengai Jr, Seguier, Partington.

Interchanges: Romano, Bousquet, Satae, Tison.

Sin-bin: Keary (33).

Referee: Liam Moore.