Catalans (12) 22 Tries: Greenshields 2, Casty Goals: Bosc 5
Crusaders (12) 26 Tries: Hauraki, Chan, Hanbury, Lupton Goals: Schifcofske 5
 Matchwinner Peter Lupton is in his second season at Crusaders |
Crusaders came from behind to keep their Super League play-off bid alive with victory at bottom side Catalans. Peter Lupton crossed for their late winner, with Clinton Schifcofske kicking his fifth goal of the night. The Welsh side had taken the lead through Weller Hauraki, before Clint Greenshields' brace turned it around. Jason Chan and Rhys Hanbury sent Crusaders ahead, then Remi Castry and Thomas Bosc's fifth goal put Catalans 22-20 up before Lupton's clincher. Crusaders now sit just two points off the top eight, with Catalans four points below second-from-bottom Salford.
Catalans coach Kevin Walters: "I'm a bit over the [upcoming Challenge Cup] semi-final to be honest. Everyone keeps talking about it. "We might as well not even show up if we're going to play like that - it'll be 70 or 80 (points). "I'm really disappointed for the Catalans fans who showed up here tonight. If we had Crusaders' will or desire then we would have won that game today. "They out-enthused us and the game meant more to them than it did to us and that was very disappointing." Crusaders coach Brian Noble: "The wind was a huge factor tonight but we didn't use it in the second half. That's the frustrating element about tonight. We won the hard way because we didn't use the wind and they did. "I thought we were deserved winners. We've been improving over the last couple of weeks and some of our game improved where we needed to improve. We talked about performance, and coming to France at the best of times is a big ask. "We've prepared well and we've practised well all week. I thought we won it in a tough way. Our kicking game was ordinary again and we made things difficult for ourselves with the way we controlled our ball sometimes."
Catalans Dragons: Greenshields, Bell, Raguin, Carlaw, Stacul, Bosc, Sherwin, Johnson, Elima, Mounis, Guisset, McGuire, Casty. Replacements: Fakir, Simon, Gigot, Gossard. Crusaders RL: Schifcofske, Youngquest, Martin, Mellars, Dyer, Hanbury, Sammut, Lupton, Hauraki, Chan, Bryant, Withers, Peek. Replacements: Lee, James, Winternstein, Trimarchi. Attendance: 6,208 Referee: T Alibert (Toulouse)
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