Warrington Wolves against Paris St Germain in Bayonne

Paris St Germain 10 Warrington Wolves 17

MARK Forster is like a good French wine... he gets better with age!

It was vintage Forster on Saturday as he rolled up his sleeves to get on with the business of helping to keep Warrington in the Super League.

And fearless 'Foz', the longest serving player in the game's top flight, gave out a French lesson on clinical finishing. His second try against Paris in the southern holiday resort of Bayonne was one of his 90-metre specials.

It could not have been more timely. The flying winger struck right on half-time to lift Warrington's confidence with a 12-10 lead going into the second half. It was a lead they never lost.

The Wolves did lose Forster to the blood-bin though in the second period. He needed 20 stitches in a cut above his eye.

The Wire were skippered by George Mann. All pictures by Mike Boden

This was a truly remarkable performance by injury-riddled Warrington who were playing their third game in six days during the hottest period of the year - and under the pressure of needing two points to clear relegation danger.

They were without their captain Paul Hulme, still missing with knee trouble, and vice-captain Paul Sculthorpe, who had a shoulder injury from the Wigan defeat three days earlier.

On-loan prop George Mann took charge on the field and he had help from the experienced Kelly Shelford and fellow playmaker Lee Briers who both made admirable returns from injury.

Kelly Shelford directing traffic for Warrington

Again there were outstanding efforts from hooker Willie Swann and full back Lee Penny who are enjoying a rich vein of form and the high humidity did nothing to dampen their performance.

It was a gritty, battling display on the field while the 'all singing and all dancing show' was performed by the 350 supporters who made the trek south. Their non-stop vocals did much to heighten Warrington's game in a Bayonne rugby union stadium badly in need of a facelift.

There was a fright early on when scrum half Briers was shaken up in a heavy collision. Thankfully the after-effects were short-lived and he was able to pop up with a drop goal late in the game which turned out to be the killer blow.

It was Andy Goodway's Paris, with a team consisting of 15 overseas players, who took the lead though. Matt O'Connor goaled in the 12th minute after Warrington were penalised for holding down.

Then from a scrappy play-the-ball Forster was able to find a 20-metre route to the line and Briers' boot made it a 6-2 advantage.

Salesi Finau was penalised for sticking out his elbow while in possession and it gifted Paris two points via O'Connor.

It was a Finau mistake that led to Paris regaining the lead. The right winger knocked on and Jason Martin fed full back Dion Bird for a 30-metre gallop to the line. O'Connor's touch line conversion made it 10-6.

Finau was substituted by Paul Wingfield and Martin was lucky to stay on the field after picking a fight with Penny.

'Foz' struck with his 80m sprint, beating Bird en route, after swooping on a loose ball from a poor Paris pass. Briers converted.

Warrington nilled PSG in a second period which started in controversial circumstances. A terrible high tackle on Warren Stevens by O'Connor should have resulted in a red card but referee Rob Connolly, with help from a touch judge, put the Paris stand off on report.

Both sides then had missed chances. Bird dropped the ball, Ian Knott released Briers but his pass to Stevens near the line was poor and a try went begging. Paris stormed downfield and their loose forward David Lomax was tackled on his back by Nigel Vagana over the line.

Forster ended up in the blood bin with a head cut, Richie Eyres replaced Knott and Chris Causey entered play with Shelford going off. Swann's good touch finding stabilised Warrington and put pressure on Paris.

The try Warrington fought so hard for was started and finished by Wingfield. His 50m break was continued by Mike Wainwright who was tackled. But Swann then found Wingfield on the right flank and he sped in from 30m to give the Wolves a six-point lead.

The seven-point safety cushion came from Briers' drop goal after he was set up by good ground-making by Mann.