Wigan 25-20 Catalans: Warriors dig in to see off spirited Dragons in Super League

Wigan's Sam Tomkins scored a try, kicked four goals and a drop goal as Wigan beat Catalans

Wigan bounced back from two successive Super League defeats to see off 12-man Catalans Dragons 25-20 in a thrilling and bruising encounter.

Wigan led at half-time despite falling behind early on as Jodie Broughton capitalised on a Liam Marshall mistake.

Wigan did not take long to get back on level terms as Sam Tomkins - who was controlling matters for the Warriors - sent a towering bomb to the corner which was collected by Chris Hankinson to grab his first try for the club.

Tomkins converted and later added a penalty to put Wigan 8-6 in front at half-time.

A forgetful first half ended with a bit of excitement as the Dragons were reduced to 12 men after Kenny Edwards was dismissed for a late and high tackle on John Bateman that sparked a mass brawl.

Jodie Broughton was one of three Catalans Dragons try scorers but they just lost out with a man less

Wigan looked in full control after the break as two tries from Morgan Escare and Tomkins put them 20-12 in front, but the Dragons refused to give up and hit back with tries of their own thanks to Alrix Da Costa and Fouad Yaha.

Lucas Albert levelled things up with 13 minutes remaining, but Wigan were not interested in a draw as Tomkins dropped a goal before Joe Greenwood grabbed his first try for the Warriors to secure a hard-fought victory.

The Dragons, who opted to rest seven players ahead of their Challenge Cup semi-final next week, took the lead after seven minutes after spending the majority of that time in Wigan's half.

Tony Gigot and Greg Bird were both held short before Marshall took an air swing at Gigot's kick-through and Jodie Broughton was on hand to touch down.

Wigan refused to lie down and be bullied by the bigger Dragons pack and they were soon on level terms.

First, Tomkins chased his own kick down and forced a dropout, before centre Hankinson, in only his second game for the club, rose the highest to take Tomkins' kick and score to make it 6-6.

Wigan were starting to dominate and they took the lead nine minutes from the break with Tomkins kicking a penalty after the Dragons were penalised for messing around at the play-the-ball.

Wigan took full advantage of the extra man as Marshall made a break down the left before sending Escare racing clear to score. They quickly followed that up with their third try as Tomkins forced his way over from close range following good work from Thomas Leuluai.

The Dragons refused to lie down and they took advantage of a rare attack on Wigan's line with Da Costa capitalising on some poor defence by diving over to score. Albert converted to reduce the gap to eight points.

It was all Catalans now and they looked they had the extra man and the driving rain seemed to help them rather than the Warriors. They soon made it 20-18 as Yaha was on hand to collect a kick from Albert after Tom Davies had elected to let it bounce.

Tony Clubb was then penalised for a late hit on Albert and the scrum-half got up off the turf to level it up at 20-20.

With the clock ticking down, it was left to see who could hold their nerve and it was Wigan with Tomkins dropping a goal before Greenwood pounced on Leuluai's kick to seal a hard-fought win and ensure they finish second heading into the Super 8s.