Catalan Dragons 28 Hull FC 10: Menzies defies the years as Hull suffer Agar’s criticism

The Dragons ran in five tries to two to claim only their second home victory in 13 months, following up impressive away wins over Warrington and Wigan, but Agar believes his side contributed to their own downfall.

“It was probably a tale of two halves for us tonight,” he said. “I felt that we created and had enough chances in the first half but probably our pass selection wasn’t the best. We held onto it a little too long and that was compounded by us trying to give the pass when it wasn’t on to give.

“I feel we lost three or four scoring chances and some good field position with those decisions.

“Having said that, Catalan certainly had some chances as well and they probably kept their composure a little bit better than we did in the second half.”

Former Bradford Bulls veteran Steve Menzies lit up the Stade Gilbert Brutus with a stunning length-of-the-field effort that belied his 37 years to secure Dragons’ fourth touchdown, while there were also scores from Jean-Phillipe Baile, Damien Blanch, Frederic Vaccari and Ian Henderson.

Hull’s Tom Briscoe opened the scoring and Sam Obst also went over, while Scott Dureau outkicked Craig Fitzgibbon four goals to one.

Agar continued: “Steve Menzies was a handful for us all night. He tore into our left side and caused us a lot of problems and he’s certainly belying his age at the moment.

“They had pride in keeping their try-line intact during the second half and they deserve the credit they get from tonight.”

Catalan head coach Trent Robinson was left with a big smile on his face after extending the Dragons’ winning run to three games and paid tribute to the club’s fans.

“The three games have come pretty quickly, I guess, given that we stayed in England, but it was really nice to get a win at home,” he said.

“You can see how the crowd enjoy themselves and get behind us like that. They were awesome for us tonight.

“It’s the first time I’ve experienced a win over here and given that reaction I hope to experience more.”

Robinson also reserved special praise for stalwart Menzies.

“I’m not sure I have enough vocabulary to describe how Steve is playing,” he said. “What we’re seeing from him is exactly the same as what we have seen since he made his debut all those years ago, but I think we all have to stop talking about his age – me included.

“He’s an exceptional footy player and he’s shown why he’s one of the world’s best footy players over the last 20 years.”

Catalan Dragons: Stacul, Blanch, Baile, Sa, Vaccari, Farrar, Dureau, Ferriol, Henderson, Casty, Menzies, Raguin, Mounis. Substitutes: Simon, Martins, Baitieri, Pelissier.

Hull: Phelps, Lyne, Turner, Yeaman, T. Briscoe, Horne, Obst, O’Meley, Houghton, Moa, Westerman, Tickle, Fitzgibbon. Substitutes: Whiting, Radford, Lauaki, Dowes.

Referee: R Silverwood (Dewsbury)