Dragons damaged by Wildcats

Wakefield made sure of a home tie in the opening round of the Super League play-offs with a 34-20 win over Catalans Dragons at Stade Gilbert Brutus.

Ryan Atkins and Luke George both scored two tries to help the Wildcats complete the double over their French opponents, who could slip out of the top eight before the weekend is over

Although Warrington's defeat to Hull KR keeps the Dragons in the mix they could be overtaken if Harlequins beat Castleford on Sunday.

Wakefield have no such worries after weathering an early storm at the start of the second half to record an impressive result in Perpignan.

Inspirational Drew

John Kear's side had built up an 18-10 advantage by half time thanks to an opportunist score from Atkins and 14 points from Brad Drew.

The Australian hooker, who is heading back to former club Huddersfield next season, slotted over two identical penalties inside the opening 15 minutes to put the visitors 4-0 ahead.

Their lead moved into double figures when centre Atkins picked up a loose ball deep inside his own half and proceeded to sprint away to the line.

Drew landed the easy conversion and, after Les Catalans hit back with a try from Sebastien Raguin, the Australian touched down himself shortly before the half-hour mark.

After George had been held up over the line just two tackles earlier Drew collected his own grubber kick, the television official eventually awarding the score after inspecting several replays.

Raguin's second of the night kept the Dragons in touch but Drew's penalty right before the hooter left the hosts with plenty to do in the second 40 minutes.

To their credit the Dragons roared out of the blocks after the break and a quick-fire brace from Casey McGuire put them ahead for the first time.

The hooker finished off Jason Croker's run out wide and then just five minutes later crossed again, somehow getting the ball down whilst in mid-air despite the attentions of three Wakefield tacklers.

At that stage the French side seemed the more likely winners but a moment of inspiration from Danny Brough turned the tide back in Wakefield's favour.

Restarting the game from a 20-metre tap, the scrum-half spotted there was no defender at home and booted the ball deep down the right channel for the ever-willing George to fetch and finish untouched.

Sucker-punch

The score - which came after a lengthy period of Dragons pressure - was a sucker-punch that the French side simply couldn't recover from.

They pushed bravely in an attempt to respond only to concede again seconds after winger Dimitri Pelo had gone close to giving them a lifeline.

England international Atkins showed why he has been heavily linked with a move to Super League rivals Warrington by twisting his way through.

Raguin was denied his hat-trick by the video referee before George sealed the result in the closing minutes with a simple finish galloping away down the touchline following an incisive break from Tevita Leo-Latu.

Brough landed his second conversion to put the final nail in Les Catalans' coffin and allow the travelling faithful to start thinking of bigger games ahead. For the Dragons, the only fixture that matters is next week's trip to St Helens.