Wakefield 28-24 Leigh: Trinity battle back for victory

Match Stats

Wakefield tries:  Arundel (18), Grix (21), Johnstone (48), Miller (59), Jones-Bishop (66)
Penalties/Conversions:  Williams (18, 21, 48, 59) 

Leigh tries: Reynolds (5), Higham (24), Hopkins (30), Crooks (34)
Penalties/Conversions: Reynolds (5, 24, 30, 34) 

Match Report

Wakefield once more demonstrated their never-say-die attitude to snatch a second consecutive home win to climb back into the top eight of the Betfred Super League.

Trinity came from 22-12 down to beat Salford in their previous game at Belle Vue and this time overturned a 24-12 half-time deficit to gain a thrilling 28-24 victory over Leigh, with winger Ben Jones-Bishop completing the fightback with the 100th try of his career.

The Centurions, fresh from three consecutive home wins, were on course to make history with a first away success in Super League after scoring three tries in a 10-minute spell in the second quarter to open up a 12-point lead.

But Wakefield, who gave a Super League debut to former Batley prop Keegan Hirst, dominated the second half when the visitors sorely missed injured playmaker Joshua Drinkwater.

CLICK HERE FOR SEASON FIXTURES, RESULTS & STANDINGS

The Centurions were the more impressive side throughout the first half and demonstrated their attacking instincts from the start, opening the scoring after four minutes when a break from evergreen forward Gareth Hock was carried on by Danny Tickle and finished off by Ben Reynolds.

Wakefield looked pedestrian in comparison to their slick-handling opponents but they enjoyed a purple patch which enabled them to take the lead.

Dean Hadley, chosen to start the game at hooker, was held up over the line before Leigh's Wakefield-born full-back Ryan Hampshire gifted Trinity a perfect attacking position by fumbling the ball from Liam Finn's high kick and prop David Fifita took advantage with a strong burst and offload to get centre Joe Arundel over.

Sam Williams levelled the scores with the conversion and Wakefield went in front three minutes later when full-back Scott Grix dummied his way over.

That was the signal for the visitors to go up a gear and, aided initially by back-to-back penalties, they stormed into a 24-12 interval lead with three tries in 10 minutes.

Skipper Micky Higham was the catalyst, dummying his way over from acting half-back and then getting substitute forward Sam Hopkins crashing through a wafer-thin Wakefield defence.

Centre Ben Crooks then finished off a splendid move across the full width of the pitch and Reynolds kicked his fourth goal.

Leigh would have been three scores in front had Drinkwater been on target with a drop-goal attempt on the stroke of half-time but it went wide and the deficit was down to just six points eight minutes into the second half.

There seemed no way through to the line when exciting winger Tom Johnstone got the ball but he stood up both Hampshire and Reynolds with some brilliant footwork to score his third try in two matches.

Leigh then had a try disallowed for a forward pass before Wakefield drew level on 58 minutes, Miller touching down Finn's pin-point grubber kick to the line, and the winner came seven minutes later when Jones-Bishop collected Williams' high kick to the corner and stretched out of Matty Dawson's tackle to plant the ball on the line for his 100th try.

The Centurions lost Drinkwater for the final quarter and sorely missed his composure and kicking as they went in vain for the win.

Match Reaction

Leigh coach Neil Jukes on cancelling his players' weekend off: "I'm just really disappointed with our second-half performance. We were like chalk and cheese. For 40 minutes we were on fire and, if we'd have had a half-decent second half, I'd have thought fair play but we were garbage in the second half.

"We lost Drinkwater but that's no excuse for trying to cling onto a 12-point lead. I'd like to have given the guys a long weekend off and kick on on Monday but we'll be in tomorrow and we'll fix it up. We've got to find that away form."

Wakefield coach Chris Chester on the match: "It was a tale of two halves. We looked in control after 23 or 24 minutes but then came up with a poor play and we struggled to contain them.

"We need to be a lot better defensively because we conceded some really soft tries, a couple of dive-overs. But I'm pleased with the way we stuck at it and I thought we were worthy winners.

"We were a totally different team in the second half, very dominant, I thought we got back to where we were a couple of weeks ago. Physically we were a lot better tonight, we tightened everything up. We needed a bigger presence in the middle because we knew that's where Leigh would come.

"I'm proud we got the two points but we're certainly not getting carried away."

Chester on Keegan Hirst and the try of the match scored by young left winger Tom Johnstone: "That took some scoring. He's a very, very good player. He works hard and is a pleasure to coach.

"Keegan Hirst didn't look out of place. It's a big step up and he handled himself really well. He's going to get some more opportunities over the coming weeks."