Wasps moved to the brink of a Heineken Cup quarter-final place after dumping Perpignan out of the competition with victory at Adams Park.

A losing bonus point from next weekend's trip to Castres should be enough for Wasps to progress as winners of the fiendishly tough Pool One.

Evergreen fly-half Alex King kicked 17 points with centre Dominic Waldouck scoring a charge-down try to earn Wasps a match-winning advantage mid-way through the second-half.

Perpignan, who had two men sin-binned in the first half, did keep coming at Wasps and they managed a late try of their own through flanker Ovidiu Tonita.

But a missed conversion from the replacement fly-half Steve Meyer cost them a chance of qualification as one of the best group runners-up.

In keeping with the history of fixtures between these two sides - in 2004 five Perpignan players were cited for foul play after a clash in Catalan country - the game began in feisty fashion.

Perpignan loose-head prop Perry Freshwater left an early calling card on his England captain Phil Vickery with an elbow after the pair had come to blows at a hotly contested first scrum.

The pair could well pack down together for England against Scotland in a fortnight's time.

But England's other loose-head option, Tim Payne, would not be out-done and played his part in an impressive Wasps scrummaging performance against a side renowned for their power up front.

Wasps enjoyed most of the first-half territory but despite the endeavours of fly-half Alex King and powerful running from man of the match Joe Worsley and Josh Lewsey they could not break down a well-drilled Perpignan defence.

They came closest when Samueli Naulu just beat Tom Voyce to Waldouck's well-judged chip forward after Lewsey had broken the Perpignan defence with an angled run and offload.

Wasps moved ahead with King's first penalty after 12 minutes only for his opposite number Nicolas Laharrague to respond for Perpignan.

The Catalans' powerful defence continued to repel the Wasps, who were then almost stung on the counter-attack after Laharrague's clever chip forward.

Perpignan's powerful forwards drove 20 metres, deep into Wasps territory, and earned a penalty only for Wasps to spoil their lineout throw and King cleared his lines.

Voyce relieved all the pressure with an opportunistic break from inside his own 22, beating a five defenders after taking quick tap from the mark before slipping pass to Lewsey on his shoulder.

King pushed Perpignan further back with an intelligent chip into space behind Nauri and the Wasps' pressure defence earned a second penalty.

Perpignan were then reduced to 14 men after Le Corvec ended Worsley's powerful run with what appeared to be a trip.

King extended Wasps' lead to 12-3 by the interval, his fourth penalty just creeping over from 45 metres out.

Perpignan lost hooker Michel Konieck to the sin-bin for a professional tackle on King.

Adams Park fell silent shortly after the restart when Vickery crumpled to the ground after hitting a ruck. He eventually regained his feet, somewhat groggily and with the help of four Wasps management staff, but played on.

King and Laharrague exchanged penalties before Wasps struck the killer blow.

Waldouck charged down an attempted clearance from Laharrague and regathered to sprint 40 yards home for the try.

Lewsey, who had been punched by Perpignan full-back Julien Laharrague, was penalised for a late tackle and it proved costly.

Despite the best efforts of Lawrence Dallaglio and Simon Shaw, Tonita was driven over for a Perpignan try confirmed after the officials consulted the television replay.

But Meyer, who had replaced Nicolas Laharrague and landed one penalty, missed the conversion.

Perpignan still had chances but Meyer missed a long-range penalty and solid defence from Worsley and Tom Rees, on as a late replacement, snuffed out their late charge.