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Saints taste defeat in Catalan

Tries from Dimitri Pelo, Remi Casty and Alex Chan saw Catalans edge Saints 24-10 in Perpignan.

Despite scores from James Graham and Francis Meli and a solid second half effort, Saints went down to their first defeat in five games.

On a beautifully crisp night in front of the usual partisan Catalonian crowd, Chris Flannery was welcomed back into the loose forward position following a quad injury whilst Jon Wilkin and Maurie Fa’asavalu made their returns on the bench.

Saints started brightly and after the Dragons were penalised for holding on, Pryce put a high kick into the corner, but the on-rushing Francis Meli couldn’t collect.

Paul Wellens then collected an awkward bouncing ball from a clever Thomas Bosc kick.

And on six minutes, Saints very nearly notched up the first four-pointer when Wellens put in a clever chip for Gardner to chase.

The winger collected, then chipped inside for his centre but Catalans managed to knock it dead.

Pryce then repeated the trick on the repeat set, but once again Pelo managed to defuse the danger and in turn give Saints their third set at the Dragons’ line.

Jon Wilkin replaced Bryn Hargreaves on 15 minutes and as he came on, Wellens combined with Gidley to almost send Gardner over in the corner.

Catalans then posted the first two points of the game through Bosc when Saints were penalised for an infringement at the play the ball.

But Saints got the try they deserved on 25 minutes when they took full advantage of a penalty deep in Dragons’ territory.

Smith gained the yards then Roby sent in Graham under the sticks for Saints’ first try. Smith easy with the extras.

It was simplicity and just reward for edging the opening 20 minutes.

Catalans hit back through Pelo who took advantage of good work earlier in the six from Khattabi and Croker to go over in the corner. Bosc added the conversion from the touchline.

And a few minutes later, an intended cut out ball luckily ended up in the arms of Stacul who took it on the bounce. The centre then took on the Saints’ line and looked to have gone in but excellent cover tackling forced him into touch – confirmed by the video referee.

Half Time: Catalans 8 Saints 6

Saints kicked off the second half and immediately got to work on a good defensive set. But after they conceded a penalty for not being square, Catalans extended their lead.

Adam Mogg went close before a clever chip through to the corner took a lucky bounce for Pelo to notch up his second. Bosc was slightly wide with the extras.

Casty then extended the lead further with a close range effort and Bosc made it three from four with the boot.

Saints hit back on 56 minutes with a well worked try from Meli. Kyle Eastmond was held up inches from the line following a jinking run and from the resultant play, the ball was worked wide for Meli to go over in the corner. Smith wide with the extras.

On 65 minutes Pryce and Meli forced a goal-line drop out with some clever kicking but couldn’t find a way through the Dragons’ defence.

And with seven minutes left Eastmond forced a drop out with a kick that caused some panic in the Catalans’ defence. That coming after a passage of play that saw the ball go through at least 10 pairs of hands.

From the restart, the ball was worked through hands to Gidley who looked to have squeezed the ball down in the corner under immense pressure. But the video ref ruled he lost the ball in the tackle.

And on Catalans’ next set, they put the game to bed with a try under the sticks from Alex Chan.

Match Summary

Catalan:

Tries: Pelo (2), Casty, Chan

Goals: Bosc (4 from 5)

Saints:

Tries: Graham, Meli

Goals: Smith (1 from 2)

Penalties:

Catalan: 10

Saints: 13

HT (Sts First): 6-8

FT (Sts First): 10-24

ATT: 7,828

REF: Ian Smith

Teams:

Catalan:

1. Clint Greenshields; 25. Younes Khattabi, 3. John Wilson, 23. Cyril Stacul, 5. Dimitri Pelo; 4. Adam Mogg, 6. Thomas Bosc; 19. Alexander Chan, 9. Aaron Gorrell, 10. Jérôme Guisset, 11. Sébastien Raguin, 12. Jason Croker, 13. Grégory Mounis

Subs: 8. David Ferriol, 22. Jamal Fakir, 24. Rémi Casty, 28. Julien Touxagas.

Saints:

1. Paul Wellens; 2. Ade Gardner, 3. Matt Gidley, 4. Willie Talau, 5. Francis Meli; 6. Leon Pryce, 20. Matty Smith; 18. Bryn Hargreaves, 14. James Roby, 17. James Graham, 11. Lee Gilmour, 15. Mike Bennett, 16. Chris Flannery.

Subs: 12. Jon Wilkin, 21. Paul Clough, 23. Maurie Fa’asavalu, 24. Kyle Eastmond.