Catalans 18-16 Hull KR: first win of the season for Dragons
Last Updated: 10/03/18 10:12pm
Lucas Albert kicked five goals and created a crucial try as Catalans Dragons secured their first Super League win of the season with an 18-16 victory over Hull KR.
Lewis Tierney and Fouad Yaha scored Catalans' tries, with George Lawler and Justin Carney crossing the whitewash for KR and Ryan Shaw kicking four goals.
Both sides came into the game in poor form, Catalans losing all four of their opening games of the season while Rovers' solitary victory came in the form of a 23-4 success against the Dragons three weeks ago.
Catalans thought they had opened the scoring in the seventh minute when David Mead touched down following a lost ball by Benjamin Jullien, but it was ruled out for a forward pass.
KR opened the scoring in the 21st minute when Shaw kicked a penalty from 20 metres out after Chris Atkin was taken out off the ball by Sam Moa.
Catalans levelled the game in the 28th minute. Julian Bousquet took the ball close to the Rovers line before losing possession, with the referee ruling that was because of a Hull KR hand and awarding the penalty. Albert added the simple conversion as the score moved to 2-2.
Shortly after the half-hour mark, McGuire raced through a hole in the Catalans defence to score down the right edge but the try was ruled out by the TMO for an earlier obstruction on Benjamin Garcia by Chris Clarkson.
The Dragons' best moved came with seven minutes remaining to half-time when a smart kick to the right edge was taken by Yaha, who collected the ball but was pushed in the air which resulted in a penalty.
Catalans attacked the Rovers' line from the penalty and Greg Bird kicked the ball on the last tackle where it bounced into the hands of Tierney, who scored the opening try, with Albert converting.
Rovers levelled the game on the stroke of half-time after Lawler gathered Atkins' kick to dot down, with Shaw adding the extras as the sides were locked at 8-8 at half-time.
Both teams traded penalties in the opening 10 minutes of the second half, Shaw converting from 30 metres out before Albert levelled the game at 10-10.
A neat kick from Atkin behind the Catalans' defence almost put Adam Quinlan in for a try but Mead's covering tackle snuffed out the chance.
Catalans were awarded a penalty for holding down just after the hour mark, with Albert not missing the goal to put the hosts ahead in the final quarter.
Yaha then scored from Albert's kick to the right corner in the 64th minute to give the Catalans a six-point advantage, with the stand-off missing the conversion attempt from out wide.
With fourteen minutes remaining, Carney levelled the game following a huge error by Tony Gigot after he knocked forward McGuire's kick to the in-goal area.
The ball bounced kindly for Carney, who touched down in the corner. Shaw added the conversion to level the scores at 16-16.
Albert was the eventual hero for Catalans after he slotted another penalty to clinch a hard-earned victory.
