Dragons up and running
Catalans Dragons picked up their first points of the Super League season after claiming a 24-12 triumph over Salford.
Last Updated: 06/03/10 12:59pm
Catalans Dragons picked up their first points of the Super League season after mounting a stirring fightback to overcome Salford 24-12 on Friday night.
The Dragons, who were hammered 58-0 at Wigan last week, produced a vastly improved showing and claimed the win thanks to tries from Chris Walker (two), Clint Greenshields, Setaimata Sa and Sebastien Raguin.
The defeat for Salford, who were leading 12-8 at half time, is their fifth of the campaign and sees them replace the Dragons at the foot of the standings.
Kevin Walters' side went into the basement battle with the worst defence in Super League having conceded an average of 36 points in their four defeats.
Elima returns
They were boosted by the return of Oliver Elima from a one-match ban, but influential duo Adam Mogg and half back partner Thomas Bosc remained sidelined.
Salford were unchanged despite their 7-0 home defeat by Bradford last time out and made the brighter start after Greenshields lost the ball from the kick-off.
But it took the Reds until the 19th minute to grab their first try in 100 minutes of rugby when Stefan Ratchford fed Willie Talau to power over.
Ratchford confidently placed over the conversion, but Catalans hit back when Walker finished off a slick handling move in the corner five minutes later.
And the French outfit reasserted their dominance shortly after when Sa's surging break allowed Dimitri Pelo to send Walker over for his second of the evening.
As both sides searched for a late first half score, it was the Reds who grabbed the lead at the break after Greenshields' poor pass was snapped up by Mark Henry and Ashley Gibson crossed in the corner. Ratchford's touchline conversion put the hosts four points clear.
It was from this point however that Les Catalans stretched their legs with three tries in the space of 19 minutes.
A poor Ratchford chip kick was clinically seized upon and Greenshields grounded in the corner. Greg Mounis' conversion put the visitors 14-12 ahead.
Sa then forced his way over for try number four with Mounis again on target, and the result was put beyond any doubt when Sa created the final try of the evening for Raguin as Salford ran out of steam.
