Wakefield stunned Salford as they found rhythm in their attack and secured a much-needed win
Catch up on the rest of Friday night’s Super League action as round 17 reached its climax….
Wakefield Trinity 32-6 Salford Red Devils
Wakefield breathed life into their fight to avoid relegation from Super League as they beat a below-par Salford 32-6 at home.
Will Dagger grabbed a try and kicked a perfect eight goals from eight attempts as Trinity recorded just their second victory of the season.
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Highlights of the Betfred Super League match between Wakefield Trinity and Salford Red Devils
Wakefield remain bottom of the ladder, four points adrift of 11th-placed Castleford, but the Luke Gale-marshalled side showed all hope is not lost with an impressive one-sided demolition of the Red Devils.
They raced to a 22-0 half-time lead after tries from Liam Kay, Reece Lyne and Dagger before adding another from Lee Kershaw in the second half.
Salford, missing their play-making spine of Brodie Croft, Ryan Brierley and Andy Ackers, had no answers to stop the Trinity onslaught.
Wakefield took the lead after just three minutes when Max Jowitt threw a dummy and broke through easily, putting Kay over for the try, which Dagger converted.
The Red Devils almost hit back quickly, but Rhys Williams dropped Chris Atkin’s wayward pass.
Trinity were eye-catching in the early stages, making metres at will and putting pressure on their opponents.
After 17 minutes the home side edged 8-0 ahead from the boot of Dagger after Salford were penalised for a high tackle.
Wakefield almost extended their lead further straight after, but Jack Croft lost control of the ball as he barged towards the line.
After 25 minutes their persistence paid off, though, Liam Hood making a break and finding Dagger in support for the try, before the stand-off converted it.
At 14-0 the home side were in control and eager to maximise their dominance, and it got worse for the Red Devils with seven minutes left in the half when Amir Bourouh left the field for a concussion test.
Dagger added a third goal, taking the lead to 16-0 after repeated infringements at the ruck by the visitors.
Right before half-time Lyne crossed for Wakefield’s third try, which Dagger again converted, putting them 22-0 ahead at the break.
Salford started the second half poorly, with Kallum Watkins knocking on the kick-off and then Dagger nailed another penalty goal.
The Red Devils continued to combust, with Trinity taking full advantage, as Croft broke through some weak defence to put Kershaw over in the corner before Dagger added the extras to make it 30-0.
In the 58th minute Salford’s discipline continued to prove costly, with the stand-off kicking his eighth successful penalty goal of the night.
But the Red Devils finally managed some respite when Alex Gerrard powered over from close range, with Mark Sneyd converting.
It was not enough, though, with Wakefield’s defence repelling some late charges from Salford, as the home side notched a well-earned win.
St Helens 22-0 Castleford Tigers
St Helens shrugged off the hangover of last week’s abject Betfred Super League loss at Hull as they coasted to a 22-0 win over struggling Castleford at a rain-lashed Totally Wicked Stadium.
If their display was short on fireworks, it was fashioned entirely to order for Saints boss Paul Wellens, who had accused his players of complacency after their error-strewn display in east Yorkshire.
Jack Welsby was amongst the try scorers as St Helens got back to winning ways
Early tries from Sione Mata’utia and Jack Welsby effectively ended the contest by half-time on a night when the visitors, despite some neat touches from debut stand-off Riley Dean, offered little to suggest their season’s travails are over.
Despite last week’s stirring win over Warrington, Andy Last’s men – who badly missed the injured Joe Westerman – remain very much embroiled in a relegation dogfight and their inability to come up with any ideas against a composed but contained Saints side will concern the Tigers chief.
If it was a game that is not destined to live long in the memory, it served up two more points for Saints that shunts them deeper into the play-off zone and gives them hope that last week’s loss, coming after two season-best displays against Wigan and Huddersfield, can go down as a painful anomaly.
Left on the bench last week in what Wellens candidly admitted may have been an error on his part, James Roby returned to the Saints starting line-up and his talismanic presence helped ensure there was no repeat of the early carelessness.
Wigan Warriors 22-6 Huddersfield Giants
Abbas Miski helped himself to a pair of tries as Wigan Warriors eased to a 22-6 victory over Huddersfield Giants.
Jai Field and Liam Marshall also crossed for the Warriors, with Harry Smith booting three goals.
Jake Bibby scored a second-half consolation try for the outclassed Giants but it was not enough as their losing run continued.
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Highlights of the Betfred Super League match between Wigan Warriors and Huddersfield Giants
The opening try came in the first 10 minutes when Bevan French sent out a sublime ball for Miski to touch down in the corner.
Wigan were the better team in the first half but the Giants put in a lot of effort. It looked like they would only concede one try in the opening 40 minutes before Smith and Toby King combined to send Miski over for his second.
Field scored a superb individual try at the start of the second half before Marshall also got in on the act with his 14th try of the campaign. The Giants managed a consolation with former Wigan player Bibby crossing over in the corner, but it was too little too late.
Wigan came out on top against a Huddersfield side who continue to falter
The Giants started well and forced an error from Wigan deep in their own half, but they were unable to take full advantage.
The Warriors made them pay. First, Marshall forced Kevin Naiqama to spill the ball to put Wigan on the attack. The ball went right and French sent a cutout ball for Miski to score in the corner.
French and Smith were causing Huddersfield a lot of problems, but were unable to extend Wigan’s lead, although Jake Wardle went close but the ball was adjudged to have gone out of play before the centre grounded it.
An error from Jake Connor, as he dropped Liam Farrell’s kick-through, gave Wigan a chance to extend their lead before the break. They did just that as Smith and King combined down the right to send Miski over for his second of the night. Smith converted as they led 10-0 at half time.
Wigan started the second half the way they ended the first with six more points. Field took the ball from a standing start and bamboozled a number of defenders on his way to the line. Smith converted for a 16-0 advantage.
Huddersfield’s discipline was poor in the second half.
They let Wigan off the hook in their own half before a bit of backchat saw them marched a further 10 yards. It looked like Wigan had put the game to bed with French looking like he had grounded the ball following a towering kick from Smith, but the referee ruled he had knocked the ball on.
Wigan had Ethan Havard sinbinned for 10 minutes for a shoulder charge on Olly Wilson, but it was the home side who still looked dangerous.
Miski collected a high ball and made a break, he offloaded to Field who was eventually hauled down. That did not matter as they managed to score on the left as Marshall got the ball down following a neat kick from Field.
Huddersfield battled to the end and were rewarded with a try from Bibby, but in the end, they were no match for the Warriors who moved to within two points of league leaders Catalans Dragons.