First win in three for Dragons

Blanch: Scored twice against former side

Catalan Dragons won for the first time in three outings on Sunday when they beat Wakefield 42-22 at Rapid Solicitors Stadium.

The Dragons had held a seven-game unbeaten run before successive losses against Huddersfield and Leeds but they were too strong for their albeit determined opponents.

Their win came despite Wakefield taking the lead early on but momentum was always with the French side after Frederic Vaccari scored their first try.

The winger crossed again, while fellow winger and former Wildcat Damien Blanch also bagged a brace as the Dragons scored eight tries in all, with Scott Dureau kicking five conversions.

Wakefield centre Chris Dean returned from injury to start in place of Josh Griffin, while Matty Wildie and James Davey came in for Kieran Hyde and the injured Julien Rinaldi.

Meanwhile, Dragons full-back Clint Greenshields made a timely return from a dislocated elbow to take the place of full-back Cyril Stacul, who suffered a broken ankle against Huddersfield last week.

Captain Thomas Bosc was replaced by loose-forward Gregory Mounis in Trent Robinson's side, with Setaimata Sa moving to stand-off.

Errors

Wakefield's early try came as a result of two errors made by their opponents as Dureau first booted the ball straight into touch from the kick-off.

Although Wakefield's resulting set of six came to nothing, Jean-Phillipe Baile then dropped the ball deep inside his own half and Greg Johnson stepped inside Sa to cross.

The Dragons soon rallied, though, with Vaccari scoring after Greenshields had broken through a gap in the Wakefield defence.

Dureau converted to hand his side the lead, with Baile then atoning for his earlier error by bulldozing his way over the line after a fluid passing move down the right.

Blanch crossed under the posts, with patient build-up on the left then setting up Vaccari, who withstood the challenge of opposite number Dale Morton before scoring his second.

The visitors were threatening to run riot but Wakefield kept them in check when Wildie scored after Glenn Morrison and Aaron Murphy had stretched the Catalan defence.

Hopes of a Wakefield comeback were fading fast four minutes into the second half, though, when Blanch scored his second, despite a pass from Baile that looked forward.

Tempers flare

Yet they managed to keep the deficit to 10 points when Frankie Mariano crossed the whitewash after taking Tommy Lee's rapid-fire pass.

Tempers then flared on two separate occasions but no-one from either team was cautioned.

Greenshields crossed in acres of space for a try, before Sa burst through to ensure the points for the visitors.

Tyrone McCarthy profited from a loose ball to touch down once more for Wakefield but Catalan had the last score when Mounis crossed.