WARRINGTON Wolves were made to rue a slow start as they fell short in going down 32-24 to Catalans Dragons.
Trailing 18-0 after 15 minutes, Warrington did well to take the game to the wire, with the Dragons only sealing the win in the final minute through Jordan Abdull as the Wolves twice fought back from three scores down.
It’s the second time Sam Burgess’ side have been beaten by the Dragons this season and it marks the first home defeat of the campaign.
Although Tom Davies opened the scoring in the corner on five minutes, it hadn’t been a start that would suggest Catalans would blow Warrington away, but that’s what transpired in the opening quarter as the visitors’ pack dominated.
The excellent Abdull shuttled a kick down the left that bounced up for Tom Johnstone to nip in ahead of Matt Dufty and run in as they went back to back for 12-0, and things went from bad to worse for the Wolves when Paul Vaughan was sinbinned for a tip tackle on Cesar Rouge.
A third try was added when Ben Garcia burrowed his way over from close range for a try that was given after a lengthy assessment by the video referee.
To their credit, Warrington rolled their sleeves up and dug in. They got a foothold back in the match on 26 minutes when Danny Walker used Vaughan as a decoy to feed Zane Musgrove for his first try in Warrington colours.
George Williams was starting to get more in to the game and his kick to the corner was knocked back by Matty Ashton for Toby King to find a second try and reduce arrears to 18-12 at half time.
But within 10 minutes of the restart, Catalans had got back out to 16 points in front as Rouge claimed Johnstone’s pat back to score, and then Johnstone himself scored his second try of the game off another smart Abdull kick.
As they did in the first half, Warrington fought back, James Harrison powering over for a try before a wonderful solo effort from Williams, who stepped through and raced past the full-back, made the score 28-24.
Warrington stayed patient and eventually got their chance when Ben Currie’s interception created field position. They spent five minutes camped on the Catalans line but the Dragons had the answer to every question threw at them.
And then with them expecting just one more set of six in the match, Catalans dealt Warrington the final blow – Abdull’s high kick to Thewlis in the sunshine was knocked by Johnstone and bounced in to the gleeful hands of Abdull to seal the win.
Warrington: Dufty, Thewlis, King, Tai, Ashton, Williams, Hayes, Harrison, Walker, Vaughan, Holroyd, Fitzgibbon, Currie. Subs: Philbin, Musgrove, Crowther, Powell, Nicholson.
Catalans: Rouge, Davies, Romano, Ikuvalu, Johnstone, Abdull, Tison, Navarrete, McIlorum, Bousquet, Sims, McMeeken, Garcia. Subs:
