Chris Bridge ran in two tries, as well as kicking four conversions
Utility man Chris Bridge enjoyed a 16-point haul as title-chasing Warrington came from behind to win in Perpignan.
It looked ominous for Wire when Catalan Dragons turned round 12-6 up with tries from Damien Blanch and Steve Menzies.
But Bridge levelled with the second of his two tries before Ryan Atkins and Lee Briers crossed too.
Warrington move back to within a point of Wigan to set up a title decider in the race for the League Leaders' Shield against the Warriors on 4 September.
But the two points had to be earned in sweltering conditions before a near 10,000 crowd in Perpignan.
Catalans had begun the fine mid-season run which has earned them their play-off place with a 22-20 win at the Halliwell Jones back in April.
But, although Ben Westwood, Simon Grix, Brett Hodgson and Rhys Evans all picked up injuries in last weekend's 66-12 win over Wakefield, Warrington had chief playmaker Lee Briers back to help ensure that there was no repeat.
Briers played a big part, capping a fine performance with his late drop goal and try as Catalans again missed the chance to climb into fourth place ahead of Huddersfield.
But Catalans boss Trent Robinson was unhappy with the performance of referee Thierry Alibert, his main complaint being that the French official should have awarded a second-half try to Daryl Millard.
Lee Briers was the stand-out player out on the park
Warrington coach Tony Smith
A Scott Dureau penalty got the scoring under way for Catalans, who extended their lead on 16 minutes when Blanch took in Dureau's long pass.
Warrington responded when Bridge pounced on a loose ball and raced the length of the field to score, converting under the posts himself, in the absence of Hodgson.
Veteran Steve Menzies restored the Dragons' lead before the break when he raced onto another stunning Dureau pass.
But Warrington took just minutes to wipe out their six-point interval deficit when Bridge took a pass from Chrie Riley to score again before adding the extras.
Both sides were then denied by the video referee, the home side being aggrieved that Monsieur Alibert did not refer a number of other decisions upstairs.
But it was Warrington who got the crucial score when Louis Anderson, who is heading for France next season, picked up a Menzies mistake and offloaded to the supporting Atkins.
With seven minutes left, Briers, Super League's record one-point kicker, landed a 35-yard drop goal to give his side a seven-point lead cushion. And he added a slightly unfair gloss with a trademark interception try, Bridge adding a simple conversion.
POST-MATCH VERDICTS
Catalans coach Trent Robinson:
"I'll have to have another look at it, but I thought it was a poor decision by the referee. Daryl Millard is a high-ball specialist and it's a one-on-one contest and, in my opinion, it was a try.
"The referee didn't see that, and perhaps something needs to be done to review how we look at those kinds of contests. Perhaps the video is a good call there, but he made his decision really quick there and without considering the video referee which was a mistake.
"I thought we worked really hard, but we got a lesson today on marker plays and scraps. We did some really big things well, I thought we looked after Joel and Michael Monaghan, Briers and Myler but they were too strong for us in pretty much all areas."
Warrington coach Tony Smith told BBC Radio Manchester:
"Lee Briers ran the game out there tonight. He was the stand-out player out on the park, he bossed the game and that's very good for a player who has been out with injury for so long. He really led us around and showed great leadership and character.
"We had to dig really deep as I thought we were out enthused in parts of the game. Our boys were struggling more in the conditions and I thought it was affecting us more than it affected them, which makes sense.
"We kept ourselves in the game with those long distance tries. It reminded me a little bit of when we played each other last time, when they scored a couple of runaway, long-distance tries on us and that kept them in the game and they ended up deserving the win. The same happened for us tonight but I thought we deserved to win."
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Bookmark with:
What are these?