WITH a sparkling first-half performance, Carcassonne regained second spot in the table from St Estève-XIII Catalan, emphatically beating the Dragons reserves 32-12.
It was not the best preparation for Saturday’s Cup final for the Catalans as they conceded five first-half tries to trail 26-0 at the break. The Canaries were very much on song, moving the ball fluently from side to side as well as through the middle and scoring early tries through second rower Maika Serulevu and winger Alexis Escamilla, both from Thibault Franck’ s passes.
Forwards Bastien Canet then Edenn Rogers-Smith plundered the Catalans’ line before winger Georgy Gambaro crossed at the corner for a fifth.
Though hooker Alexis Alberola extended Carcassonne’s lead just after the break, St Estève-XIII Catalan, who had shown flashes of inspiration from Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet and César Rougé, found a way back as fullback Aispuro-Bichet dived through a mass of defenders to score before Tanguy Zenon took advantage of a fumble by Morgan Escaré to go over. But the response came too late.
The Aude derby went with form as fifth-placed Limoux got the better of ninth-placed Lézignan, whose play-off hopes must now surely be over. With Johnathon Ford returning from injury, Limoux went ahead through halfback Matis Dall’Asta and prop Valentin Yesa, with Dall’Asta goaling both.
In a first half dominated by the visitors, Lézignan kept themselves in the reckoning when youngster Loris Zammut went over from Paul Momirovski’s huge pass.
After Dall’Asta and Momirovski had traded penalties, Limoux fullback Zac Santo gave his side a 20-8 winning lead when he kicked ahead, gathered and touched down. FCL second rower Luc Brocas went over from Momirovski’s pass, with the stand-off converting from touch, but it served only to earn a defensive bonus point at 20-14.
Ahead of their Cup final this coming Saturday, Albi rested several key players including Tony Gigot and Mickaël Goudemand, but were still far too strong for Toulouse, scoring ten tries in their 60-18 victory at the Stade des Minimes.
It was 24-12 at the break, but Corentin Le Cam and Brad Wall both went over within minutes of the restart to set Albi on the way to a convincing win. Centres Clément Tailhades and Adrien Saliès ended up with two tries each and halfback Baptiste Fabre gave a faultless display with the boot, landing all ten conversions.
Pia kept up the pressure on the top three with a 22-10 win over Villeneuve, who hang on to sixth place. In the strong wind, Pia posted tries through Amine Miloudi, Lenny Chachoua and Ilias Bergal for a 16-4 lead at half-time. Winger Damien Huescar added another try in the second half, with Jack Aiken’s reply for Villeneuve gaining the defensive bonus point.
Avignon, next to bottom and with nothing to play for, were 30-0 down at half-time at Villefranche, who went on to win 48-18 and move into seventh spot behind Villeneuve with a game in hand.
Results
Carcassonne 32 St Estève-XIII Catalan 12
Lézignan 14 Limoux 20
Pia 22 Villeneuve 10
Toulouse 18 Albi 60
Villefranche 48 Avignon 18
Bye: St Gaudens
Fixture
Coupe de France – final
Saturday 5th April
Albi v St Estève-XIII Catalan 18:00 (at Parc des Sports et de l’Amitié, Narbonne)