A BREATHLESS Catalan derby at Stade Gilbert Brutus ended without a golden-point winner as St Estève-XIII Catalan and Pia fought out a 30-30 draw after 90 minutes’ play.

The young Dragons had the better of the opening period, taking a 12-0 lead as their star-studded backline made two dazzling breaks, the first resulting in a try for Léo Darrelatour and the second for Clément Martin on the other wing.

Pia hit back when winger Ilyas Bergal squeezed in for the first of no fewer than four tries, and with the ever-dangerous Hakim Miloudi helping himself to another try, it was 14-14 at the break.

When forward Ilai Tuia was yellow carded at the start of the second period, St Estève took advantage as impressive young forward Alex Lis went over, then a fine run by Martin produced a second try for Darrelatour.

Pia trailed by 14 points, but Adrien Saliès charged through and Bergal bagged two more, with some fine inter-passing bringing his fourth, to bring the scores level at full-time.

St Estève missed three field-goal attempts and Pia one as neither side, fittingly, could get the better of the other. 

Carcassonne hammered Avignon 46-6, revealing the gulf in class between these two top-four teams.

The Canaries posted three tries in twelve minutes of the first half as Georgy Gambaro opened the scoring, Lucas Albert sliced through with a smart dummy and Alexis Alberola tore through the middle after an exchange of passes with Bastien Canet, with Albert converting all three.

Maika Serulevu and Germain Rigaud followed in their wake and it was 30-0 at the break.

Winger Gambaro continued the onslaught with his second try after a length-of-the field run before, almost on the hour, Avignon centre Louis Carré saved the honour with a try converted by Baptiste Pourchi off a post.

But Carcassonne were far too strong, with powerful forwards including ex-Catalans man Paul Séguier on debut continually making inroads. Germain Poulain and Clément Boyer completed the scoring.

Limoux recorded their third away win in a row with a 20-16 victory at injury-hit Villeneuve.

But it was the Leopards who scored first as stand-off Hamza Bachoukh went over and Thomas Lasvenes added the conversion and then a penalty-goal.

Limoux’s Romain Puso and Joseph Thérond, with tries either side of half-time, plus three goals from Christopher Hellec, shifted the balance before Villeneuve retook the lead when Jack Aiken crossed and Lasvenes landed two goals. Thérond’s second try gave the Grizzlies a narrow 20-16 victory.

Lézignan picked up three valuable points from a potentially tricky game at Toulouse, winning 24-18.

St Gaudens came ever closer to their first win of the season but they were denied at the last once again, this time at home to Villefranche, who edged victory by 30-29.

Results
Carcassonne 46 Avignon 6
St Estève-XIII Catalan 30 Pia 30
St Gaudens 29 Villefranche 30
Toulouse 18 Lézignan 24
Villeneuve 16 Limoux 20

Fixtures
Coupe de France
Saturday 20 December
Lézignan v St Gaudens
Villefranche v Limoux
Villeneuve v Avignon
Sunday 21 December
Albi v Toulouse
Pamiers v Carcassonne
Tonneins v Pia
Villegailhenc v Ille
* Holders St Estève-XIII Catalan have qualified directly for the quarter-finals.

Table
Carcassonne 25 pts
Limoux 23 pts
Albi 21 pts
Avignon 19 pts
Pia 17 pts
Lézignan 17 pts
Toulouse 13 pts
St Estève-XIII Catalan 13 pts
Villefranche 11 pts
Villeneuve 9 pts
St Gaudens 7 pts