London Broncos came as close to claiming that first elusive victory of the season with a 24-22 defeat by Catalan Dragons at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Defeat at the home of Manchester City FC came as part of Rugby League's 'Magic Weekend' with all fixtures being hosted at the Etihad Stadium.

Joe Grima's side trailed 18-6 going into the final quarter of the clash, showing a great deal of character and determination to bring the score back to 18 apiece before the Dragons grabbed a decisive try to condemn the Broncos to defeat.

Speaking to the club's website afterwards, Grima said: "If we run harder and tackle harder and compete harder, we'll change our own luck. We've probably got to play a lot smarter.

"They were difficult conditions out there today and they probably suited the Catalans, but in saying that, it's probably about what options we could have taken rather than what options we did take and a couple of unforced errors which came back to bite us in the bum."

The Broncos took the lead after a bright start, Josh Drinkwater and Ben Farrar combining well to put Mason Caton-Brown over.

Drinkwater converted, but the Dragons roared back almost immediately through Thomas Bosc.

Ben Pomeroy then put the Dragons into the lead before the break, with Bosc adding the extras.

That lead was extended after the restart when Jeff Lima crossed the line and Bosc added the extras once more.

The Broncos refused to roll over and die, however, and two quick-fire tries brought the Londoners level.

First Caton-Brown crossed the line before James Greenwood touched down and Drinkwater converted to make it 18-all heading into the final 15 minutes.

Whitehead then scored for the Dragons and Bosc converted to end any hopes of a first Super League victory of the season.

Drinkwater set up some late tension when he scored following good work from Nick Slyney, but the resulting conversion drifted wide and the Broncos were once again unable to show anything for their efforts.