IN-FORM Limoux kept the pressure on leaders Carcassonne when they hammered St Gaudens 66-18.
Maxime Grésèque’s men scored eight first-half tries, three of them coming in the first six minutes, and led 44-6 at the interval.
Centre William Partridge, props Valentin Yesa and Adrian Delarose and fullback Zac Santo each scored two tries, with halfback Kauri Aupouri-Puketapu adding another and supplying some decisive passes. Christopher Hellec landed nine goals in all.
Still handicapped by injuries, St Gaudens remain bottom of the table and have yet to win a match this season.
Lézignan and Albi fought out a 10-10 draw at a muddy Stade du Moulin after extra time failed to produce a golden point.
In conditions which favoured defences, visitors Albi scored their only try of the first half when Clément Tailhades kicked ahead, then hacked on and winger Robin Brochon touched down.
Lézignan responded when winger Dorian Gouzy went over from Pierre Monteil’s pass before Evan Albert gave the home side a 6-4 half-time lead with a penalty=goal.
Romain Franco’s penalty-goal after the break levelled the score but Lézignan took the lead again when Lilian Albert crashed over, only for Albi to equalise when Théo Guinget crossed from Tailhades’ pass.
The sides slugged it out for an extra ten minutes and while each made an ambitious field-goal attempt, neither could claim victory.
Carcassonne stay top following a hard-won victory at St Estève in a match brought forward by a day owing to a weather forecast predicting high winds and heavy rain.
In conditions that were far from ideal, the Canaries took an early lead when winger Georgy Gambaro profited from Clément Herrero’s kick.
After the break Carcassonne increased their advantage when forward Damel Diakhaté burst onto Alexis Alberola’s pass to go over at the posts.
Following Herrero’s 40-20 kick, winger Sophien Bitigri notched, with Carcassonne leading 20-0 with half an hour remaining.
A little too late, the injury-hit Catalans found their rhythm. Their young Super League star Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet opened their account before Amine Miloudi also touched down, with Aispuro-Bichet converting both tries.
The score remained at 20-12 to the visitors, St Estève having to settle for a bonus point.
Toulouse are just outside the top six after defeating Villeneuve 30-24, their fourth win of the season.
Though the Leopards opened the scoring with a try from Aussie prop Victor Tereszko, it was Toulouse who seized the initiative with converted tries from loose-forward Mickael Rouch and halfback Paolo Dall’Asta.
In the second half, the home side extended their lead to 28-12 before Villeneuve retrieved a bonus point in the last eight minutes as Thomas Lasvenes and Jack Aiken both went over, Lasvenes converting.
Pia consolidated their position in the top half of the table with a convincing 28-10 win at Villefranche.
Winger Kylian Benavent touched down twice in the first twelve minutes, leading to a 20-0 lead at the break.
Villefranche cut down their handling errors and hit back with two tries in two minutes from prop Paul Sangaré and fullback Jason Gillard, but the revival was shortlived as Pia reasserted their control.
Results
Lézignan 10 Albi 10
Limoux 66 St Gaudens 18
St Estève-XIII Catalan 12 Carcassonne 20
Toulouse 30 Villeneuve 24
Villefranche 10 Pia 28
Fixtures
Saturday, January 24
Avignon v St Gaudens
Carcassonne v Pia
St Estève-XIII Catalan v Villeneuve
Sunday, January 25
Limoux v Albi
Villefranche v Lézignan
Bye: Toulouse
Table
Carcassonne 28 pts
Limoux 26 pts
Albi 23 pts
Pia 21 pts
Avignon 19 pts
Lézignan 19 pts
Toulouse 16 pts
St Estève-XIII Catalan 15 pts
Villefranche 11 pts
Villeneuve 10 pts
St Gaudens 7 pts