Super League: Twelve-player Warrington Wolves continue unbeaten run with dramatic 20-14 win over Catalans Dragons

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Warrington Wolves' Gil Dudson had a moment of madness as he punches his opponent and starts a brawl.

A 12-player Warrington Wolves held on to clinch a dramatic 20-14 victory over Catalans Dragons in Super League's Rivals Round and make it eight wins from eight games.

Catalans and Warrington went toe to toe in the first half, Josh Thewlis breaking the deadlock in the seventh minute to go over for the Wolves.

The Dragons then hit back through a try from Mike McMeeken and a penalty try from Adam Keighran, but their lead didn't last long as Matt Dufty put in an incredible full-length-of-the-field effort to reduce the deficit to 10-8 at the break.

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Tries from George Williams and Arthur Romano brought the game level at 14-14 in the second half before a red card for Gil Dudson in the 66th minute looked to have changed the game.

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Josh Thewlis ended a good piece of play by Warrington Wolves to give his team a late lead over Catalans Dragons.

However, the Wolves battled hard and Thewlis' went over for his second try on the 73rd minute to clinch the victory and keep Warrington's unbeaten run intact.

Story of the game

Catalans came out firing early on but couldn't make it count as the visitors absorbed five minutes of pressure before gaining a penalty, a miss pass on the seventh minute then sending Thewlis over in the corner.

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Josh Thewlis opens the scoring for Warrington Wolves against Catalans Dragons.

From there, an arm wrestle for the momentum ensued as both sides battled hard, the Dragons taking the spoils on the 25th minute as Stefan Ratchford dropped Keighran's perfectly weighted kick and allowed McMeeken to pounce on it and go over to score.

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Mike McMeeken equalizes for Catalans Dragons by capitalising on Adam Keighran's kick.

Catalans then extended their lead on the 28th minute as Tom Johnstone broke downfield and sent the kick through for Keighran to dive on. Although it looked like Keighran didn't quite get to it, Ben Currie was judged to have made contact and the penalty try was awarded, Keighran adding the extras to make it 10-4 to the home side.

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Catalans Dragons' Adam Keighran converted this penalty try to give his team the lead.

However, the lead didn't last long for Catalans as Dufty scored a spectacular full length try from the restart, eluding all the defenders and going in over the corner to bring the score to 10-8 at half-time.

Catalans' lead didn't last long into the second half as Williams sent Sam Kasiano on the charge in the 45th minute, drawing three defenders and passing it back to the stand-off, Stefan Ratchford adding his first extras of the afternoon to make it 12-10 to the visitors.

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Warrington Wolves Matt Dufty ran the length of the pitch for this incredible try to give his team the lead.

The home outfit then regained some momentum and a huge dummy from Romano sold the Warrington defence as he strolled in at the corner to bring it level at 14-14.

The game then looked to have completely changed as Johnstone saved a certain try with a brilliant interception and raced downfield before being tackled by Dudson, who lost control and punched the Catalans winger in the tackle, bringing out the red card and reducing Warrington to 12.

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Catalans Dragons' Arthur Romano dummied the Warrington Wolves' defence and levelled the score.

However, Warrington then took their chance in the 73rd minute as Ratchford broke downfield and the ball was worked across to send Thewlis over in the corner for his second, the winger converting his own try to bring the score to 20-14.

Romano thought he had brought things level with three minutes to go as he finished off a pass from Sio Siua Taukieaho from a Keighran kick but it was chalked off for offside and Warrington held on.

What they said

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Warrington Wolves' head coach Daryl Powell believes that his team's tight win over Catalans Dragons shows how far they've come.

Warrington Wolves head coach Daryl Powell:

"Oh wow. It was just end to end, a lot of drama.

"We get a man sent off and that put us under a lot of pressure but I think we just showed how tough we were today.

"Catalans were awesome and I thought they really came after us and we handled it well.

"We battled through some really tough moments and that is a big win for us."

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Catalans Dragons head coach Steve McNamara was full of praise for his side after a tight loss to Warrington Wolves.

Catalans Dragons head coach Steve McNamara:

"It was a good game and a hard game for two teams who have had a great start to the season.

"We fell on the wrong side of a couple (of decisions) but probably our missed tackles, the try from Matt Dufty just before half-time was a big one for us to concede.

"We will dust ourselves down and I thought we committed really well in that match and worked really hard."

What's Next?

Catalans Dragons travel to face the Huddersfield Giants on Friday April, with kick-off at 7.45pm. For the Warrington Wolves, a huge home clash against the Wigan Warriors awaits also on Friday April 14, with kick-off at 8pm, live on Sky Sports Arena.