Radford frustrated as Hull blow lead

Lee Radford was left rueing Hull’s lack of composure after his team fell 23-18 at Catalan on Monday.

Hull prop Liam Watts was red-carded late in the game as the Arlie Birds blew a seven-point lead to end the Bank Holiday weekend with two defeats.

“Our effort was fantastic but our smarts, say no more,” Radford told the Hull Daily Mail. “We had an ample amount of chances to win that game but we didn’t.

“I applaud the effort but I’m so frustrated with how it panned out. There was certainly an improvement from when we lost to St Helens and the Leigh game on Friday.

“We had nothing to lose in a way because their starting 13 was almost out there today, only Justin Horo was missing. You look at ours and we had guys missing and some patched up.

“I don’t think anyone will be back for Wigan on Saturday. We’ll assess all that on Thursday before the match.”

Radford was unhappy with the officials after the game and says their failure to clamp down on the Dragons’ time-wasting tactics caused his players’ frustrations to boil over.

“The game kicked off at 8.00pm but the first half finished at 8.54pm French time which tells you it was a stop-start match,” he added.

“We came to play the game but that’s not the first time they’ve done it and it’s not the first time I’ll complain about it.

“They get away with it and the ball boys lose the ball when it’s a scrum or a tap. Any rhythm is stopped. It’s frustrating but it’s credit to them. It’s how they set out to play.

“I feel sorry for Liam Watts, for instance, because I can see why he was getting frustrated with one or two people.”