WITH Carcassonne unable to play for the second week running, Albi seized the opportunity to go top by cruising to a 24-12 win over fourth-placed Avignon.

Lézignan’s pitch was waterlogged, meaning the Canaries’ match, as it had been at home to Villeneuve the week before, joined the growing backlog of postponements.

Albi took early control of their game against an in-form Avignon side. As early as the first minute, Cédric Soulé powered over from Fouad Yaha’s pass.

Nittim Pedrero touched down on the other flank before secondrower Tristan Dupuy went between the posts.

The same combination that produced Pedrero’s try, with Brad Wall and Théo Guinget involved, came up with another stunner as Wall took Pedrero’s inside pass and scythed through for a try, and it was 20-0 at half-time, with Avignon barely having set foot in Albi’s half.

Clément Tailhades increased the score before Avignon, through halfback Fabien Jullien, finally put points on the board.

With seven minutes left, winger Mouad Bida crossed for a converted try that helped earn his side a defensive bonus point.

St Estève-XIII Catalan emphatically won the clash of the two Super League reserve teams, winning 38-10 against a Toulouse side who had not played for a month.

The Catalans never looked like losing, despite the occasional threat from Toulouse, who proved too wasteful with the ball in hand.

Catalan winger Nicolas Authier touched down twice for an 8-0 lead before Léo Darrelatour also crossed.

The centre, like Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet who added the conversion, is a first-team squad member but can be selected for the reserve team once the Dragons are up and running in Super League.

Winger Timéo Portier, from Aispuro-Bichet’s break, and prop Lucas Tignol helped take the score to 26-0 before Toulouse winger Abel Drigui opened his side’s scoring on the hour and prop Wail Skoudri charged between the posts to reduce the score to 26-10.

Any hopes Toulouse entertained about salvaging a bonus point were extinguished by Authier, who ended with a hat-trick, and a last-minute effort by Amine Miloudi.

Limoux had not played for five weeks and it showed, at least for the first half-hour in which hosts Villefranche took a 10-0 lead aided by Jason Gillard and Jack Glossop tries. But Limoux hit back to level the scores at 10-10 at half-time.

Villefranche remained in contention but the Grizzlies kept their noses in front, William Partridge bagging three tries, including the final effort in a 34-26 victory which keeps the pressure on Albi and Carcassonne at the top.

Villeneuve, next-to-bottom, rose to the occasion by winning 36-26 against fifth-placed Pia, who had to be content with a bonus point.

Results
Albi 24 Avignon 12
Toulouse 10 St Estève-XIII Catalan 38
Villefranche 26 Limoux 34
Villeneuve 36 Pia 26
Lézignan v Carcassonne – postponed
Bye: St Gaudens

Fixtures
Saturday 28 February
Avignon v Toulouse
St Estève-XIII Catalan v Limoux
Sunday 1 March
Carcassonne v Albi
Pia v Lézignan
St Gaudens v Villeneuve
Bye: Villefranche

Table
Albi 30 pts
Limoux 29 pts
Carcassonne 28 pts
Avignon 26 pts
Pia 25 pts
St Estève-XIII Catalan 24 pts
Lézignan 21 pts
Toulouse 16 pts
Villefranche 15 pts
Villeneuve 14 pts
St Gaudens 7 pts