Kick Off 7:00pm (6:00pm UK) Well having not gone to
France, tonight was the first time in seven years I've watched us
play via Sky TV. I dunno what frustrated me more. Not being at the
match tonight or Wigan's throwing away of this match. Taking the
lead in the 70th minute should have propelled us to victory but a
silly mistake from a kick off cost us dear. Wigan started with a forward pass after 10 seconds. Shocking
start, Sean O'Loughlin being the guilty man. This gifted Catalans
great field position which turned into a try in the corner for
Mark Hughes with less than two minutes gone. Laurent Frayssinous
conversion hit the post. Wigan then kicked the ball out on the full from the restart. You need to start a game well to set the tone for the rest of your performance. This was a shocking start. but they fought back well. On 7
minutes Brett Dallas somehow managed to touch down in the corner,
despite three defenders trying to bundle him into touch. He was
set up by David Vaealiki who did well to juggle a long pass from
Mick Higham. Danny Tickle's conversion, like Frayssinous', hit the
post Then Wigan gave them a double whammy on the next attack. Bang, bang, straight down the middle Iafeta Paleaaesina, who turned 24 on Friday, scored on debut as he finished a good break from Chris Ashton. Tickle converted to make it 10-4. Wigan just needed to slow the pace relax and take control, but
no a stupid penalty gifted the Catalans the initiative as they
drew level on 15
minutes. A last tackle grubber kick from
Stacey Jones was not dealt with and prop Chris Beattie pounced. Frayssinous' conversion made it 10 all. Both sides had tries disallowed before the Catalans took the lead
on the half hour. Jamal Fakir, who was close to signing for Wigan
in the middle of last season, battered his way over for a try. It
was poor Wigan defence, Pat Richards in particular was at fault as
he went far too high! Frayssinous' conversion made it 16-10 to the
French. Fakir's try obviously went to his head as soon after he scored
referee Ashley Klein placed him on report for a high tackle on
Wayne Godwin. Then seconds later he was shown the yellow card
after giving Godwin a second high tackle. Not often you see a
yellow for a high shot. I think he would have seen red had he been
playing for a more established side! Anyway the sin binning worked to Wigan's advantage as they
scored twice before half time. Dennis Moran jinked his way over
for a try on 35 minutes before Jerry Seuseu battered his way over
for his first ever Wigan try in stoppage time. Tickle converted
both to send us in at the break leading 22-16. 22-16 up Wigan had a chance to come out second half and take
control. But no, they lost the initiative again as the Dragons
came out the stronger. Substitute winger Renaud Guige had a
score disallowed for a double movement before making amends after
46 minutes by finishing some splendid handling by half-backs Jones
and Rudder. And six minutes later, the crowd was on its feet once more when
centre John Wilson got a wonder pass out of the tackle for right
winger Justin Murphy to cross at the corner. Frayssinous planted
the touchline conversion between the posts to make it 26-22 with
25 minutes left. Wigan began to panic. They didn't need to, but they did.
Patience was needed but not forthcoming. Higham was held up over
the line and O'Loughlin had the misfortune to somehow lose the
ball in the act of scoring. It looked like it wasn't to be our night until Pat Richard
broke away in the 70th Minute. He handed off the challenge of
Guige to race over for the score. Tickle converted to make it
28-26 to Wigan. Tickle then added a penalty four minutes later and
we once again had the game in our hands. But from the kick off after the penalty, Richards knocked on.
Just when you don't want to give the Catalans a sniff, we gift
them possession and good field position. They took advantage. First loose forward Ian Hindmarsh, brother
of Australian Test star Nathan, cut through for his side's sixth
try with four minutes to go. Frayssinous converted to make it
32-30. Wigan needed the football but another penalty allowed the
Dragons to hold on. They even had the cheek to score again through
Justin Murphy. Very scrappy try it was as well but nothing more
than they deserved. Wigan should have won this but deserved nothing because as Ian
Millward said after the game we were too inconsistent and just
didn't take control of a match that that was ours. It's a big ask now to bounce back and beat Leeds next Friday. Ashley Klein (London) 11,122 Super League 11 - Round 1 Results
Engage Super League 11 Table - After This Round
Saturday 11th February 2006
Catalan Dragons 38 Wigan Warriors 30
Stade Aime Giral,
Perpignan
Engage Super League 11 - Round 1 of 28
-
Wigan
-
Catalan
29
Chris Ashton
6
Laurent Frayssinous
T
G5
2
Mark
Calderwood
2
Justin Murphy
T2
3
Pat Richards
T
18
Teddy Sadaoui
4
David Vaealiki
3
John Wilson
5
Brett Dallas
T
4
Mark Hughes
T
22
Joel
Tomkins
16
Sean
Rudder
7
Dennis Moran
T
7
Stacey Jones
8
Scott Logan
8
Chris Beattie
9
Mick
Higham
25
Julien Rinaldi
10
Iafeta Paleaaesina
T
20
Adel Fellous
19
Harrison Hansen
10
Jérôme Guisset
15
Danny
Tickle
G5
22
Jamal
Fakir
T
13
Sean
O'Loughlin
12
Ian
Hindmarsh
T
Interchange:
6
Danny
Orr
1
Renaud Guigue
T
14
Kevin
Brown
11
Pascal Jampy
17
Jerry
Seuseu
T
13
Gregory Mounis
18
Wayne
Godwin
19
Alex
Chan
Report:
Scoring:
01mins:14
Catalans 04
Wigan 00
Try: Mark Hughes
-
Catalans 04
Wigan 00
L.Frayssinous Missed Conversion (0/1)
06mins:27
Catalans 04
Wigan 04
Try: Brett Dallas
-
Catalans 04
Wigan 04
D.Tickle Missed Conversion (0/1)
10mins:53
Catalans 04
Wigan 08
Try: Iafeta Paleaaesina
-
Catalans 04
Wigan 10
Conversion: Danny Tickle (1/2)
14mins:22
Catalans 08
Wigan 10
Try: Laurent Frayssinous
-
Catalans 10
Wigan 10
Conversion: Laurent Frayssinous (1/2)
28mins:55
Catalans 14
Wigan 10
Try: Jamal Fakir
-
Catalans 16
Wigan 10
Conversion: Laurent Frayssinous (2/3)
33mins:56
Catalan Dragons Sin Bin
Jamal Fakir (High Tackle)
34mins:26
Catalans 16
Wigan 14
Try: Dennis Moran
-
Catalans 16
Wigan 16
Conversion : Danny Tickle (2/3)
39mins:24
Catalans 16
Wigan 20
Try: Jerry Seuseu
-
Catalans 16
Wigan 22
Conversion : Danny Tickle (3/4)
Half Time
Catalans Dragons 16 Wigan Warriors 22
45mins:51
Catalans 20
Wigan 22
Try: Renaud Guigue
-
Catalans 20
Wigan 22
L.Frayssinous Missed Conversion (2/4)
52mins:24
Catalans 24
Wigan 22
Try: Justin Murphy
-
Catalans 26
Wigan 22
Conversion: Laurent Frayssinous (3/5)
69mins:25
Catalans 26
Wigan 26
Try: Pat Richards
-
Catalans 26
Wigan 28
Conversion : Danny Tickle (4/5)
72mins:43
Catalans 26
Wigan 30
Penalty Goal: Danny Tickle (5/6)
74mins:40
Catalans 30
Wigan 30
Try: Ian Hindmarsh
-
Catalans 32
Wigan 30
Conversion: Laurent Frayssinous (4/6)
77mins:50
Catalans 36
Wigan 30
Try: Justin Murphy
-
Catalans 38
Wigan 30
Conversion: Laurent Frayssinous (5/7)
Full Time
Catalans Dragons 38 Wigan Warriors 30
Referee:
Attendance:
Fri 10 Feb
Castleford Tigers 18 Hull FC 42
10,188
Sat 11 Feb
Harlequins 16 St Helens 40
8,213
Sat 11 Feb
Catalan Dragons 38 Wigan Warriors 30
11,000
Sun 12 Feb
Leeds Rhinos 20 Huddersfield Giants 12
16,119
Sun 12 Feb
Warrington Wolves 6 Salford City Reds 24
10,845
Sun 12 Feb
Wakefield Wildcats 14 Bradford Bulls 20
9,157
-
Team
P
W
D
L
F
A
Diff
Pts
1
St Helens
1
1
0
0
40
16
+24
2
2
Hull FC
1
1
0
0
42
18
+22
2
3
Salford City Reds
1
1
0
0
24
6
+18
2
4
Catalan Dragons
1
1
0
0
38
30
+8
2
5
Leeds Rhinos
1
1
0
0
20
12
+8
2
6
Bradford Bulls
1
1
0
0
20
14
+6
2
7
Wakefield Wildcats
1
0
0
1
14
20
-6
0
8
Wigan Warriors
1
0
0
1
30
38
-8
0
9
Huddersfield Giants
1
0
0
1
12
20
-8
0
10
Warrington Wolves
1
0
0
1
6
24
-18
0
11
Harlequins
1
0
0
1
18
42
-22
0
12
Castleford Tigers
1
0
0
1
16
40
-24
0