Catalans 10-36 Warrington: Wolves return to winning ways
Warrington eased any relegation worries by claiming their sixth win of the season with a 36-10 victory over Catalans Dragons at Magic Weekend.
The Wolves have gone six points above bottom club Toulouse and four points in front of 11th-placed Wakefield with their Magic win.
The Dragons were forced to field a young team due to the suspensions of key forward trio Micky McIlorum, Dylan Napa and Sam Kasiano. Half-back Mitchell Pearce made his 350th career appearance.
Warrington coach Daryl Powell gave a debut to the club’s new recruit Matty Nicholson, who recently joined the Wolves from rivals Wigan.
The Wolves opened the scoring inside four minutes through Gareth Widdop but it came at a cost. The marquee full-back left the field with an arm injury and didn’t return.
Catalans soon hit back through Samisoni Langi, who is set to represent France at the World Cup.
Jake Wardle scored his first try for Warrington since arriving on loan from Huddersfield, with Stefan Ratchford converting.
Ratchford then added a penalty goal to give his side a 12-6 lead midway through the first half.
Debutant Nicholson crashed over the line when he charged onto a short pass from George Williams.
An uncharacteristic error from Sam Tomkins gifted Ratchford a try just before half-time, in which he converted.
HT: Catalans Dragons 6-24 Warrington Wolves
A 90-metre effort from Josh Thewlis at the start of the second half put the game out of reach for Catalans. Ratchford’s conversion gave them a 30-6 lead with half an hour left.
Tomkins went over for the Dragons on the hour but the game was already gone by that point.
George Williams finished off an impressive performance from Warrington with a try in the 75th minute.
Warrington centre Peter Mata’utia was sent to the sin bin in the dying embers, but it didn’t affect the scoreline was Powell’s men ran-out 36-10 winners in Newcastle.
FT: Catalans Dragons 10-36 Warrington Wolves
Catalans: Tomkins; Romano, May, Langi, Yaha; Pearce, Drinkwater; Dudson, Da Costa, Goudemand, Whitley, Jullien, Garcia. Subs: Seguier, Le Cam, Laguerre, Chan.
Tries: Langi, Tomkins Goals: Tomkins 1
Warrington: Widdop; Thewlis, Mata’utia, Wardle, Ashton; Ratchford, Williams; Mulhern, D Clark, Harrison, Currie, Nicholson, J Clark. Subs: Bullock, Holmes, Dean, Mikaele.
Tries: Widdop, Wardle, Nicholson, Ratchford, Thewlis, Williams Goals: Ratchford 6
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