Catalans Dragons (12) 20

T : Richie Myler, Brayden Wiliame, Louis Anderson
G : Luke Walsh 4

London Broncos (10) 18

T : William Barthau, Rhys Williams, Mark Ioane
G : Jarrod Sammut 3

Catalans Dragons had to dig deep to see off Kingstone Press Championship side London Broncos to record a 20-18 victory in their first Super 8s Qualifiers tie.

Former Catalans half-back William Barthau haunted his old club to put the Broncos 6-0 up following Jarrod Sammut's conversion but Richie Myler crossed for the hosts, with Luke Walsh's boot levelling the scores on 14 minutes.

London re-established the lead when hooker Andy Ackers crashed over to put the visitors 10-6 ahead until Brayden Wiliame dotted down in the final play of the first half, with Walsh adding the extras to earn the hosts  a slender advantage.

Sammut and Walsh traded penalties as the Betfred Super League side maintained their lead before Myler created an overlap for Louis Anderson to charge over with 12 minutes left.

Walsh added the conversion to take the score to 20-12 and crucially give the hosts an eight-point advantage which was to prove vital in the last minute of the game when Mark Ioane crossed the whitewash, with Sammut adding the conversion attempt as the hooter sounded.

Team sheet

Dragons : Tierney, Thornley, Inu, Wiliame, Duport, Wlash, Myler, Moa, Aiton, Casty, Anderson, Horo, Bird
Subs: Bousquet, Garcia, Baitieri, Margalet

Broncos: Walker, Williams, Hellewell, Channing, Kear, Sammut, Barthau, Evans, Ackers, Roqica, Wilde, Pitts, Davis
Subs: Pewhairangi, Gee, Ioane, Battye

Stadium : Gilbert Brutus

Referee : Chris Kendall

Man of the match : Paul Aiton

Attendance: 7 102