Wakefield Trinity 32 Salford Red Devils 18 Match Report
The strong northerly wind might not have been quite up to gale force, and the north-south incline on the pitch was significantly less than that of the infamous Mount Pleasant ground, Batley, but both in combination, as they were in last Sunday’s away Reserves fixture at Wakefield, set a difficult challenge for both teams, upon facing them.
‘Forty minutes each way’ may sound a perfectly fair way of conducting any game, but, were that truly the case, there would not be the general urgency on the part of the vast majority of teams to avoid having to contend with such problematic conditions until the later half of the game.
Tiring your opponents out in the first half is generally viewed as the most profitable way forward.
That certainly proved to be the case in Sunday’s ‘curtain raiser’ with the Red Devils running out of energy some twelve minutes from half time, after having given their all to then, thereby having been able to keep in close contact with their hosts, points-wise.
Despite having fallen behind in the second minute, when they were caught cold by a quick line break which put the home side six points ahead, from a converted try under the posts, the Reds really set to, as they toughed it out with their opponents in a long, protracted arm wrestle.
Indeed, it was Salford who were to break the deadlock, with their first score, on 13 mins. Two back-to-back penalties gave them three sets of six with sufficient time to build up good position, with second rower, Charlie McCurry forcing his way over to reduce Trinity’s lead to a mere two points.
Despite the disadvantage they were labouring under, the Red Devils continued to match the home side in both attack and defence, but, in what had turned out to be an end-to-end encounter, this was to drain them and. in an unfortunate six-minute period, fell behind to three Wakefield tries, two of which were converted, to give them a 20 points to 4, half-time lead.
Still, comparatively, as fresh as daisies, on the resumption, the Wakefield players were able to profit from two back-to-back sets by extending their advantage by a further six points from another converted try, and things were beginning to look rather bleak for the visitors.
The turning point of the half came on 53 mins, when Rhyley Hyde finished off an attack to double the Reds’ tally, with an unconverted try.
When, thirteen minutes later, Sam Hill, as he had done in the Reserves match the previous week, got on the end of an end-of-set kick, but this time being rather further out and somewhat hemmed in by opponents, passed on to winger, Billy Glover, who crossed in the corner to bring the score to 26-12.
When three minutes later, Charlie McCurry notched up his second try and Jack Gatcliffe landed the conversion, with ten minutes to go and only eight points adrift, hopes were raised that they might still have the last say, but sadly, this was not to be, and it was Wakefield, who exploited three back-to-back sets in possession, to go over for another converted try.
Assistant coach, Alex Davidson, was a little bemused at the side’s rather topsy-turvy performance, as he explains:
“It was a game of two halves for us on the day, not only in response to the contrasting conditions of each half, but also in what we produced.
“In the first half, we attacked really well but let ourselves down in defence, with Trinity scoring three tries in less than ten minutes. The second half it was all the other way round, with the defence being stiffened considerably, but the attack deteriorating, as was shown in our completion rates.
“There were, nevertheless, some personally stand-out performances, from various individuals. Rhyley Hyde thoroughly deserved his try for the way he set to, in organising and his constant probing of the Wakefield defence, but an extra special mention must go to prop, Brett Bailey, who has joined us on loan from Widnes.
“He put in an incredible seventy-minute stint, in the middle of the field, working tirelessly throughout with strong carries and sterling tackling.”
SALFORD
Fitzgerald, Griffiths, B.Glover, Coan, Hill, Murray, Gatcliffe, C.Glover , Walker F, Bailey, Shields, McCurrie, Lagar
Interchanges
Hyde, Kelly-Duffy, Scrivens, Holland
18th Player: Littler
