Super League: Catalan Dragons beat London Broncos to go top
Catalan Dragons go top of the Super League table with a 30-24 victory over London Broncos at Esher.
Last Updated: 28/03/13 10:15pm
The match was switched to Esher earlier this week after the pitch at the Twickenham Stoop was deemed unplayable and the new surroundings appeared to suit the hosts as they led for much of the game until Zeb Taia's two late tries sealed the win for the visitors.
The Broncos, watched by a crowd of just 1,136, opened the scoring in the fifth minute thanks to a try from Kieran Dixon after he swooped on a loose ball and raced home from inside his own half, with Michael Witt adding the conversion.
The French side were level six minutes later through Morgan Escare's touchdown - following Leon Pryce's clever pass - and Thomas Bosc's conversion.
The pendulum swung back in London's direction when Tony Clubb celebrated his 150th appearance with a try with his first touch shortly after coming off the bench, Witt again adding the extras.
Steve Menzies replied for the Dragons but Bosc was off target this time and the visitors were unable to break through again before the interval despite applying plenty of pressure with Pryce pulling the strings.
London were back on the front foot shortly after the restart when Witt went over, following Shane Rodney's break, before converting his own try.
The see-saw nature of the game continued with Frederic Vaccari scoring out wide, Bosc landing a tricky conversion this time.
Chad Randall then went in under the posts for London but Catalan once again hit back with Taia's first try from Pryce's kick and Bosc added the conversion before slotting over a penalty to level the scores at 24-24.
The Dragons took the lead for the first time in the 68th minute when Taia pounced on a loose ball to score under the posts and they held firm in the closing stages after Bosc had added his fifth conversion.
