Deadly Dureau shocks Wolves
Scott Dureau starred as Catalan Dragons inflicted Warrington Wolves' first defeat since the opening day of the Super League campaign.
By Elliot Ball
Last Updated: 03/04/11 6:21pm
Scott Dureau was the architect of Catalan Dragons' biggest scalp of the season as Engage Super League leaders Warrington Wolves suffered their first defeat since the opening day of the campaign.
Dureau was forced to leave the match on a stretcher, but not before the Australian scrum-half amassed 10 points as Dragons twice came from behind to claim a shock 22-20 away win on Sunday.
Wolves had held the advantage for large parts of the game, with Australian winger Joel Monaghan touching down twice and Chris Riley and Richie Myler claiming further tries.
But the hosts were never more than one try ahead as the Dragons, with further touchdowns from Cyril Stacul, Frederic Vaccari and David Ferriol, always stayed in touch and the match-winning try came when Dureau pounced on a Myler mistake to race clear 14 minutes from time and added a crucial third conversion.
The Dragons' afternoon started badly as the influential Clint Greenshields dislocated his elbow in a third-minute tackle and did not return, before Monaghan collected Chris Bridge's pass to score out wide and compound the visitors' early problems.
Catalan eventually began to settle and were aggrieved when Dureau broke 70 metres from an interception only to be pulled back for an infringement spotted by referee Phil Bentham.
The French side got themselves back on level terms as Sebastien Raguin found room on the left to send Stacul over in the corner. The lively Vaccari threatened soon after but Rhys Evans produced a fine tackle to drag him into touch.
Warrington responded by setting up a second opportunity for Monaghan and the winger again made no mistake as he broke through a tackle to touch down and Brett Hodgson converted. But the Dragons were level at 10-10 by the break after Vaccari broke from halfway and beat Bridge to the line for a try improved by Dureau.
Resolve
The Wolves struck again early in the second half as Riley, who had gone close only to knock on moments earlier, was set up by Evans in the corner but Catalan showed their resolve yet again and hit back. Ferriol took a short pass 10 metres out and showed some nimble footwork to skip a tackle and power over.
Dureau's goal edged the visitors into the lead for the first time and anxiety started to grow among the home supporters as Catalan missed a good chance to add to their lead, when Steve Menzies threw a forward pass towards Jean-Philippe Baile.
A moment of brilliance by Myler put Warrington back ahead just after the hour. The former Salford scrum-half created a huge gap with a smart dummy after taking a high pass and seized the opportunity to crash over.
Hodgson converted but Catalan were far from broken and reclaimed the lead after Myler feebly palmed the ball into Dureau's hands from a high Lee Briers kick. The Dragons scrum-half took full advantage as he raced away for a try to which he added his third goal.
Dureau's afternoon was ended prematurely soon after, however, as he was caught by a late Garreth Carvell tackle and left the field on a stretcher.
Both sides had further opportunities in a frantic and tense finale but Catalan held on for probably the biggest shock of the season so far.
It was a major scalp for the Dragons, who now face champions Wigan next week, but it remains to be seen whether they paid a hefty price with serious-looking injuries to Dureau and full-back Greenshields.
