Wolves slay Dragons to keep heat on Wigan

WARRINGTON Wolves produced a stunning second half fight back to record a rare 12-25 victory over Catalan Dragons in France ensuring a title showdown with Wigan Warriors.
Trailing 12-6 at the break the Wolves turned up the heat in scorching conditions scoring 19 points without reply to keep the pressure on Wigan at the top of the table.
While Wigan prepare to face Leeds in the Challenge Cup final next weekend, the Wolves have a weekend off, before a title showdown with the Warriors at the Halliwell Jones – with the winners going top of the table with just one game remaining!
Missing a number of key players including skipper Adrian Morley, points machine Brett Hodgson, powerhouse Benny Westwood and the suspended Mickey Higham, the Wolves showed they still had strength in depth as they were boosted by the return of talisman Lee Briers.
In what was always going to be a tight game, Catalans took the lead after five minutes with a Dureau penalty followed by a Blanch try on 15 minutes.
But back came Warrington through a Chris Bridge try which he converted to level the scores. A Menzies try on 33 minutes goaled by Dureau gave the Dragons a 12-6 half-time lead.
A second try from Bridge, which he also converted on 45 minutes levelled the scores and the game remained tight for much of the half with defences on top.
But a try from Ryan Atkins 10 minutes from time converted by Bridge gave the Wolves a deserved lead and then a 40 metre drop goal from Briers provided some much needed breathing space.
As the Catalans pushed to get back into the game it was Briers who intercepted to race away to score the match winning try, which was again goaled by Bridge to send the large travelling Warrington contingent into party mood.