By Daniel Zealey
Wakefield Trinity hold on after early dominance sees them overcome table-topping St Helens to end a 5-game losing streak.
MATCH DETAILS
Wakefield Trinity’s blistering first half helped them topple top of the league St Helens 24-20 and end their run of five consecutive losses.
The Saints came into the fixture with only one defeat so far this season and that looked like it would continue when Mark Percival touched down inside the opening two minutes, going over in the left corner after initially losing his footing.
Minutes later, Wakefield struck back through right winger Ben Jones-Bishop, before the returning Liam Finn converted to level the scores at six-apiece after only 6 minutes.
Wakefield grew in confidence scoring another three tries within the next 20 minutes. The first of those came through Reece Lyne who benefited from a short Jacob Miller pass.
Justin Horo’s dummied his way over after fooling two defenders shortly after, before Bill Tupou muscled his way past four to extend the lead even further.
The Saints struck back before half time first through Makinson and then Percival crossed for his brace shortly before the interval, with both conversion crucially missed.
The second half had fewer chances, with Luke Douglas grabbing the only try after charging onto Theo Fages’ pass to score next to the upright.
Liam Finn made sure of the win with a penalty in the latter stages of the second half before both sides lost a man in the final 10 minutes, Percival and Trinity’s Tyler Randall seeing yellow for dissent and a high shot respectively.
Nevertheless, Chris Chester’s side hung on to inflict defeat on the visitors and climb to seventh after their promising start to 2018.
WHAT WE’VE LEARNED
Liam Finn Crucial to Trinity Success
After missing a few matches recently- including last week’s defeat to Leeds- Liam Finn proved why he is an important part of Wakefield’s side.
Finn and Miller link up well together and Trinity has missed that in recent times. Keep them both on the field together and things might finally be on the up for Chester and co.
Saints Switch-Off Proves Costly
With 22 of Wakefield’s 24 points coming in an 18-minute period, it proved costly in the end as Saints were always up against it.
Despite scoring the opening try, the visitors were always chasing the game and, in the end, they just ran out of time.
Man Of The Match- Liam Finn (Wakefield Trinity)
The Wakefield half-back marked his comeback to the side with a real masterclass against one of the league’s best sides.
Finn’s game management helped guide Wakefield to victory, his conversions and penalties ultimately proving to be the difference between the sides.
THE RESULT
Wakefield Trinity 24
Tries: Jones-Bishop, Lyne, Horo, Tupou
Goals: Finn 4/5
Drop Goals: n/a
St Helens 20
Tries: Percival 2, Makinson, Douglas
Goals: Richardson 2/4
Drop Goals: n/a
SQUADS
Wakefield: Grix, Jones-Bishop, Lyne, Arundel, Tupou, Miller, Finn, Huby, Randell, Hirst, Ashurst, Kirmond, Horo.
Interchanges: Wood, England, Arona, Baldwinson.
St Helens: Barba, Makinson, Morgan, Percival, Grace, Lomax, Richardson, Amor, Smith, Thompson, Peyroux, Taia, Wilkin.
Interchanges: Fages, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Douglas, Knowles.
Referee: Gareth Hewer
