Super League: Castleford Tigers 6-16 Catalans Dragons - ninth win in 10 for leaders

Mathieu Laguerre continued his progress with Catalans with a try, although a foot may have been in touch

Catalans Dragons improved their position at the top of Super League, comfortably beating Castleford Tigers for a ninth win in 10 games.

Josh Drinkwater created two of the three tries with beautifully floated passes on each wing for Fouad Yaha and Mathieu Laguerre respectively.

Samisoni Langi also forced his way over on the right for the Dragons.

Challenge Cup finalists Castleford finally got a consolation when Derrell Olpherts crossed late on.

While points are still awarded, Covid-19 uncertainties remain a consideration, meaning the table is worked out on a win percentage tally - and as such Catalans' 90% figure is considerably superior at present to second-placed champions St Helens' 77.78%.

Only the loss of Alrix da Costa was any kind of sour note for the Perpignan club, who are well used to their fly-in, fly-out routine amid the pandemic.

As for their opponents, Daryl Powell's side were magnificent in beating Warrington to reach Wembley at the beginning of the month but their league form is a concern with this their fifth defeat in six.

They have also lost all four home matches since crowds returned to the Mend-a-Hose Jungle in May.

The Tigers, who were missing England call-up and talisman Paul McShane and the injured Gareth O'Brien in creative positions, were never able to boss the game and even the sprightly Niall Evalds was well checked from full-back.

There was also some concern for Liam Watts, pressed into ball-playing duties in the halves, who seemed to injure his shoulder.

Catalans, with their own reshuffles in the absence of England's Sam Tomkins and Tom Davies, had the depth to cope as Arthur Mourgue again gave evidence of his promise with a fine display and Laguerre added a try.

It was Drinkwater though who shone brightest for Steve McNamara's Dragons, with his kicking game and range of passing giving Cas headaches all night.

Castleford head coach Daryl Powell:

"I'm pretty proud of the boys.

"Clearly we had Watts at half-back so you can see how our team looks like at the moment.

"It's frustrating from an attacking point of view but they're the biggest team in the competition and I thought we handled them pretty well. Physically, I thought we were awesome.

"It's difficult when you've got 11 or 12 players not playing, we've just got to hang in there.

"We'll take a lot out of tonight's game from the defensive point of view. We've got to move on to St Helens next week, when hopefully we get some players back."

Catalans head coach Steve McNamara:

"We got the win but we certainly didn't play well.

"It's been 2012 since we last won here and I know the two teams were not at strength, but I'm disappointed with how we've played the last two games.

"I'm also pleased we ended up on the right side in terms of results. We've lost a little bit of rhythm but we're scratching out the wins, which is a positive for us.

"We're sitting in a good position in terms of the league but we know how quickly that can change."

Castleford: Evalds; Olpherts, Clare, Shenton, Graham; Richardson, Watts; Griffin, Milner, Smith, Foster, Holmes, Massey.

Interchanges: O'Neill, Hepi, Bienek, Hall.

Catalans: Mourgue; Laguerre, Whare, Langi, Yaha; Maloney, Drinkwater; Dudson, Da Costa, Bousquet, McMeeken, Jullien, Goudemand.

Interchanges: Whitley, Belmas, Baitieri, Kasiano.

Referee: Chris Kendall (RFL).