Warrington Wolves 22 Catalans Dragons 18

They slayed the Wembley-bound Dragons with a side that had been patched up and shuffled about right up until the week's final training session.

Chris Bridge, Vinnie Anderson and long-term casualties Stuart Reardon, Paul Johnson, Michael Sullivan and Mike Cooper were already unavailable before Simon Grix and Henry Fa'afili withdrew from the game 24 hours before kick off.

Head coach Paul Cullen revealed that Lee Briers, Brent Grose, Martin Gleeson, Jon Clarke and Adrian Morley made appearances despite being major doubts, while Mark Gleeson and Chris Riley also battled through injuries to play.

Rob Parker and Chris Leikvoll made themselves available despite not being 100 per cent ready to return from their injuries.

Such was the effect of the limited availability Cullen selected 12 forwards in his 17, although against down-the-middle Catalans that is not necessarily such a bad option to take.

The potential for team disruption was massive, though, with back rower Ben Westwood making his first appearance in the centres for two years, hooker Jon Clarke switching to stand off and 18-year-old Academy second rower Lee Mitchell making his debut off the bench.

And then during the match itself against a Catalans side missing only Jerome Guisset and Casey McGuire, winger Kevin Penny was limping for the final 48 minutes and Martin Gleeson missed the final 27 minutes with a rib strain, leaving second rower Andy Bracek having to fill in at centre.

Despite all of the turmoil, Wolves looked an organised and determined unit and were only behind for three minutes throughout.

Afterwards Cullen said: "It was a performance of great character and I think the bravest effort I've seen from any side I've coached at Warrington in the five years I've been back here."

Every player stood tall, with Mark Gleeson punching well above his weight in the middle and Morley, Paul Wood, Ben Harrison and Rob Parker also producing monumental efforts in the pack.

Full back Brent Grose provided a major contribution with two tries, while winger Riley, who broke his nose playing for the under 21s the previous week, would have banished the memory of his last-minute knock-on over the try line in Perpignan in June with a superbly taken opening try of the night.

Penny, playing on the right wing for a change, scored another spectacular effort from a Briers kick direct from a scrum on the halfway line.

Parker's first try of the season sealed the points and also protected his modesty as it is understood the squad had him lined up for a cheeky forfeit at the end of term if he had ended the campaign scoreless.

Match facts

engage Super League Round 24, August 19, 2007

Warrington Wolves 22 Catalans Dragons 18

Wolves: Brent Grose; Kevin Penny, Martin Gleeson, Ben Westwood, Chris Riley; Jon Clarke, Lee Briers; Paul Wood, Mark Gleeson, Paul Rauhihi, Andrew Bracek, Adrian Morley, Ben Harrison. Subs used: Chris Leikvoll, Steve Pickersgill, Rob Parker, Lee Mitchell.

Dragons: Clint Greenshields; Justin Murphy, Sebastien Raguin, John Wilson, Younes Khattabi; Adam Mogg, Stacey Jones; David Ferriol, Luke Quigley, Alex Chan, Jason Croker, Cyril Gossard, Gregory Mounis. Subs used: Julien Touxagas, Kane Bentley, Remi Casty, Adel Fellous.

Referee: Steve Ganson

Scoring: Riley cuts inside and out to beat four men to the try line after receiving a long pass from Clarke, 13mins, 4-0; Jones and Mogg combine to put Greenshields over, 23mins, Jones converts, 4-6; Briers kicks beyond the condensed Catalans defence from a scrum on the halfway line for Penny to swoop and hare home, 26mins, 8-6; Grose dummies, steps and fends his way to the line with a weaving run, 33mins, 12-6; Jones puts Gossard clear and accepts the return pass to touch down, 44mins, Jones adds the extras, 12-12; Grose dummies and arcs his run past two defenders before crossing in Murphy's attempted tackle, 46mins, 16-12; Briers throws a dummy to Wilson and beats deputy full back Mogg with a pass for Parker to dive over, 58mins, Briers converts, 22-12; Murphy touches down a grubber kick from Jones, 82mins, Jones boots the goal from the touchline, 22-18.

Sin bin: Wolves: Briers 33mins (dissent). Dragons: Greenshields 56mins (late flop in tackle), Wilson 75mins (late tackle).

Pens: Wolves 7 Dragons 5

Scrums: Wolves 4 Dragons 8

Attendance: 8,125

Warrington Guardian top men: Mark Gleeson 3pts, Morley 2pts, Grose 1pt.

Interesting note: Mark Gleeson has now made more starts for Wolves this season than in any other campaign.