LONDON: Catalan Dragons were condemned to fifth place in the final Super League table as their poor run of form continued with a dismal 32-4 defeat to Widnes on Sunday.
The Dragons have spent much of the season challenging at the top of the table, but five straight defeats allowed St Helens to leapfrog them in the final round of the regular season ahead of the Super Eights, with Saints benefiting from an extra home game in the post-season as a result.
Corey Thompson got the Vikings on their way, and while Catalans responded through Dave Taylor, Patrick Ah Van hit straight back to make it 10-4, before two Thompson penalties pushed the lead to 10 at the break.
Joe Mellor's second-half try put the result beyond doubt and Widnes finished it off in style with ex-New Zealand Warrior Aaron Heremaia and Stefan Marsh crossing late on to seal the win.
Sunday's other game saw Wakefield taught a lesson ahead of their Challenge Cup semi-final against Warrington, with a 46-20 loss to Castleford.
Leading 16-10 at the break, the Wildcats collapsed completely in the second half with Cas running in six second-half tries to romp to victory.
On Friday, Hull FC had secured top spot at the end of the regular season as they battled to a 28-20 victory over Salford.
First-half tries from former NRL duo Steven Michaels and Frank Pritchard pushed the Black and Whites into a 12-6 lead at the break.
Three tries at the start of the second period got Salford back in front heading into the last ten minutes, but Hull showed their fighting spirit to wrap up first place with scores from Chris Green, Marc Sneyd and Mahe Fonua.
On Saturday, Warrington moved into second place in the table with a 34-30 win over Huddersfield despite Gene Ormsby's hat-trick against his former club.
Huddersfield finish bottom of the Super League table ahead of the Qualifiers.
Ormsby only moved to Huddersfield from Warrington two weeks ago and helped the Giants to a 30-28 lead heading into the final seconds, but Daryl Clark's last-gasp score saw the Wolves home.
Stefan Ratchford, Ben Currie and Ben Westwood had all crossed for Warrington in the first half as they led 16-14 at the break, but in the end it needed Clark's late intervention for Tony Smith's charges to sneak the win.
That was enough for them to leapfrog Wigan into second after the Warriors were well-beaten 23-4 at home by St Helens.
In a fractious derby, first-half tries from Mark Percival and Morgan Knowles gave Saints a 16-4 half-time lead and they sealed the win late on through James Roby's try.
That means a second straight defeat for Wigan, who went down to Leeds last time out and will need to turn things around in their Challenge Cup semi-final against Hull next week.
Leeds on Thursday ensured they would have four home games in the qualifiers as they saw off Hull KR 24-20, with James Segeyaro helping himself to a try.
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