Two sides locked together in the bottom half of the table on
ten league points met with the chance to finish the weekend in the top half of
the table as Wakefield Trinity took on the Warrington Wolves in a seventh
against ninth clash with a win for either side being enough to lift them above
Hull FC.
Warrington were slight favourites with the bookies and had
been given a two-point handicap on the coupon, but the scene was set for a
battle royal between two sides trying to break into the play off positions in a
game which for most was too close to call before kick off.
Wakefield have emerged victorious from their last four home
meetings with Warrington, and you have to go back as far as 2019 for the last
win for the Wolves on Trinity’s home paddock, Wakefield also won the round four
encounter in Super League XXX by 30-14 in March.
The perfect start for Wakefield culminated in a third minute
try for Caius Faatili who took the short pass and wriggled the ball free of the
tacklers to ground just over the line. Max Jowitt added the conversion, the
home support delighted.
Faatili was in for his second on eight, this one created by
a break from Griffin after he’d taken a Tom Johnson over the shoulder pass as
the winger dropped to the ground. A typical poachers try for the Trinity prop.
Jowitt added the extras, the Wire not at the party.
Josh Griffin broke eighteen minutes of deadlock when he went
through a gap in the Wolves defence for a walk-in try to the left of the posts
after Mason Lino drew the defence and put in a short pass to his left. Jowitt
was again on target for 18-0.
The Wolves finally had some reward for their efforts on
thirty-two, Arron Lindop taking a Marc Sneyd miss out pass to go over on the
left corner. Sneyd added the conversion from wide, the Wolves narrowing the
lead to twelve points.
Three minutes later it was a Wolves double whammy as Sneyd
broke the Trinity line and put Matty Wrench free for a forty-metre sprint to
the line. Sneyd hit the post with the conversion attempt, Warrington still
eight adrift. Warrington right back in the game after having had their backs to
the wall for the opening half hour.
Two minutes after the restart the home side were off the
mark in the second forty, Corey Hall taking the Lino pass and getting inside Wrench
to stretch for the line and ground. Jowitt added the conversion, the Trinity
lead to fourteen points.
A killer blow was struck by Tom Johnstone on fifty-six,
stretching to ground in the left corner off a miss-out pass from Jowitt. Jowitt
was wide with the conversion attempt, but the Wolves needed to score four times
in the remaining twenty-three minutes.
Ot was all over on sixty-two when Griffin grabbed his second
of the afternoon as he stooped to take a Mathieu Cozza offload by his boot
laces and go in from ten metres out. Jowitt was back in the conversion saddle
for 34-10m the game beyond the Wolves.
With thirteen minutes remaining Cozza picked up a loose ball
after a Lino high kick and passed to Oli Pratt on the wing to stoop and score
one handed in the corner. Jowitt added the touchline conversion to bring up the
forty.
This was a comprehensive win for a resurgent Wakefield
Trinity which humiliated the cup finalists and kept them in ninth place in the
table while the victors jumped into the top six and above Hull FC. Sam Burgess
will be scratching his head, and stripping the paint off the dressing room
walls, as he tries to pick up the pieces and go again next weekend when they
have to take on the league leaders Hull KR. Daryl Powell will be wearing a big
grin.
Wakefield Trinty: Rourke, Walmsley, Hall (T), Pratt (T),
Johnstone (T), Jowitt (G 6/7), Lino, McMeeken, Hood, Faatili (2T), Croft,
Griffin (2T), Pitts. Subs: Scott, Vagana, Cozza, Smith. 18th Man: Nikotemo.
Warrington Wolves: Dufty, Thewlis Jake, Tai, Wrench (T), Lindop
(T), Ratchford, Sneyd (G 1/2), Yates, Powell, Vaughan, Holroyd, Russell, Currie. Subs: Philbin, Crowther, Gardner, Harrison.
18th Man: Leyland.
Half-Time: 18-10.
Full-Time: 40-10.
Score Progression: 4-0, 6-0, 10-0, 12-0, 16-0, 18-0, 18-4,
18-6, 18-10 : HT: 22-10, 24-10, 28-10, 32-10, 34-10, 38-10, 40-10 :FT.
Lead Exchanges: Wakefield.
Referee: Liam Rush.
