DAMIEN GAUTIER’S extra-time try gave Villeneuve a 28-24 victory over St Estève-XIII Catalan, who lost their chance to put pressure on leading pair Albi and Carcassonne.
At St Gaudens, Carcassonne, who led 10-6 at half-time, were relieved in the end to escape with a 24-20 golden-point win which keeps the Canaries in second place.
The game at Villeneuve went to extra time when Catalan prop Florian Vailhen powered over for his second try to bring the scores level at 24-24.
Earlier, Villeneuve winger Nathan Rouillard crossed for a hat-trick of tries.
Numerous field-goal attempts failed to break the deadlock as Villeneuve tried four times to land a one-pointer and St Estève two.
Finally Gautier, from Mitch Revell’s offload, decided the issue as he touched down for a victory which keeps the Leopards in the top six.
The clash between fourth-placed Limoux and Pia in fifth ended with Maxime Grésèque’s men maintaining the momentum they gained with their win over Carcassonne in their previous outing.
Though Pia had slightly the better of the first half, leading 13-6, Limoux scored three whirlwind tries in twelve minutes at the start of the second.
As Pia left holes in their defence, Romain Puso strolled over from Allan Torreilles’ pass, prop Valentin Yesa was unstoppable as he went over under the posts and Zac Santo snapped up a loose ball, taking the score to 24-13 with Matis Dall’Asta’s conversions.
Limoux added another try through Elie Sastre before Pia fullback Hakim Miloudi crossed for a late, unconverted try, his second of the match.
A Lenny Chachoua field-goal gave Pia the defensive bonus point at 30-18.
Lézignan kept their top-six hopes alive with a crucial 34-14 win over Villefranche, whose own hopes have begun to falter.
Former Leeds star Paul Momirovski was Lézignan’s stand-out performer, scoring three second-half tries, creating two others and landing five conversions as the FCL dominated the second period.
It was a disappointing showing from an inconsistent Villefranche side, who managed only a last-minute try from prop Jack Glossop in the second half.
Toulouse once again came close to posting their first win of the season as they led Avignon 18-6 at the start of the second half before gradually losing control of the game.
Robin Brochon had landed three goals but a further penalty-goal attempt rebounded off a post.
Avignon came back into the game as François Dorce-Hantz then Saloty Mendy went over, with Olivier Arnaud converting both to bring the scores level.
In the final minute, Toulouse gave away a penalty which Arnaud kicked for a 20-18 win.
Results
Avignon 20 Toulouse 18
Lézignan 34 Villefranche 14
Limoux 30 Pia 18
St Gaudens 20 Carcassonne 24
Villeneuve 28 St Estève-XIII Catalan 24
Bye: Albi
Fixtures
Saturday, March 8
Carcassonne v Avignon
Sunday, March 9
Pia v St Gaudens
St Estève-XIII Catalan v Albi
Toulouse v Villeneuve
Villefranche v Limoux
Bye: Lézignan
Table
Albi 35 pts
Carcassonne 34 pts
St Estève-XIII Catalan 33 pts
Limoux 32 pts
Pia 29 pts
Villeneuve 26 pts
St Gaudens 25 pts
Villefranche 24 pts
Lézignan 23 pts
Avignon 20 pts
Toulouse 4 pts