Jones inspires Dragons

Jones inspires Dragons

Stacey Jones made a stunning return to action as Catalans Dragons held off a Wakefield fightback to record a 28-20 win, their fifth in the engage Super League.

Kiwi scrum-half Jones scored the first Dragons try and was at the heart of their attacking play as they moved level with the Wildcats in the table.

Laurent Frayssinous scored 16 points and there were further tries from Adel Fellous and Jamal Fakir but Wakefield made life difficult for the hosts in the second half.

Tries from Paul White ? who finished with two ? and Ben Jeffries brought the visitors back within two points at one point but the inspirational Jones ensured the Dragons held on.

Wakefield were handicapped by the absence of Fijian winger Semi Tadulala, who had been unable to travel due to passport problems.

The Wildcats did draw first blood when David March landed a penalty but the Dragons went ahead when Jones raced onto his own short grubber kick to touch down.

Second row Fakir then followed up with the second try on 35 minutes after Mark Hughes collected a high Jones kick and offloaded out wide.

Frayssinous converted both and then put his side into a 16-2 lead five minutes into the second half when he swapped passes with Fakir to score the first of his two tries and add the extras.

The visitors responded with White racing in for his first try after a powerful run on 59 minutes and Jeffries further reduced the arrears when he weaved his way through the line.

March?s two conversions cut the gap to 16-14 but Jones found another gear and provided the pass for Fellous to crash over.

Stand-off Frayssinous then secured the win when he touched down three minutes from time and took his goal tally to four.

Jeffries put in a good kick for White to race through and gather to score in the last minute but it was too late for the Wildcats.

Catalans Dragons (10) 28. Tries: Jones, Fakir, Frayssinous 2, Fellous. Goals: Frayssinous 4.

Wakefield (2) 20. Tries: White 2, Jeffries. Goals: March 4.

Ref: K Kirkpatrick

Att: 6,852