AUSTIN POWERS
Dragons battered by weather and then Blake in Wolves romp
BLAKE AUSTIN turned on the style as red- hot Warrington made it nine wins on the bounce.
It completed a tough day for the Dragons who had endured an horrendous trip from the south of France.
They were unable to get a plane from Perpignan because of strong winds, forcing them into a frantic two and a half hour car dash to Toulouse to get a flight from there.
Coach Steve McNamara insisted his players were fine, despite only arriving in Warrington an hour before kick off, and he’d have been happy with their start.
They weathered an early storm from the Wolves in which Anthony Gelling finished off a terrific move by Austin and Jake Mamo.
The French side then struck back at the double with touchdowns from Tom Davies and Samisoni Langi, with full back Sam Tomkins creating both.
McNamara’s men looked lively, producing some marvellous off-loading rugby, but they were caught napping before the break.
Wolves full- back Matty Ashton showed blistering speed to be first to a Gareth Widdop cross- field kick and Widdop added the conversion to make it 12-12 at the break.
A barnstorming run by Joe Philbin put Wolves on top
MATT FINISH Davis celebrates his try just shortly after the restart with Matt Davis delivering the killer finish as he barged past three players.
Half back Austin added another converted try, after good work by the lively Ashton, to extend the home side’s lead to 12 points.
Catalans hung in, claiming a Fouad Yaha try to cut the gap to eight points, setting up a tense finish.
But a yellow card for James Maloney ruined their hopes of breaking the jinx of a nine-year losing run at Warrington’s ground.
Danny Walker rounded off the scoring for the Wolves, with Widdop taking his goals tally to five.