Youth and Experience Unite To Slay Wounded Dragons
By Kieran Lacy
28 - 20
Wakefield |
Catalans |
First Half: 10 |
First Half: 10 |
Full Time: 28 |
Full Time: 20 |
Tries: Ferguson, George |
Tries: Pelo, Elima, Martins, |
Goals: Brough 4 |
Goals: Walker 2 |
In front of a 5,818 crowd, nifty young star of the future steals show from x-factor semi finalist Danyl Johnson. Whilst immense work is put in by frequently overlooked, experienced grafters.
After only a few minutes Wakefield started to show their quality when Tevita Leo-Latu broke through a gap in the Catalans defence and punished them immediately with quick passes, for Dale Ferguson to score a try. Danny Brough converted, to give Wakefield a 6-0 lead after only 4 minutes.
Some strong defending on Catalans behalf frustrated the keen Wakefield youngsters; the play quickly turned to the inventive Catalan’s favour as the ball was swiftly swept from one side of the pitch to the other and back again. The Wildcats defence were caught short as Jean-Philippe Baile sent Pelo over, to the Wildcats brief disappointment. Leo-Latu again showed his creativity as he caught out Catalans’ retreating defence, and made what looked like a real try scoring opportunity, but a great defensive chase by Casey McGuire stopped the advancing Wakefield attack.
The flow of the game changed again for McGuire to show his attacking skills with a nice offload to the ex-Wakefield Wildcats forward Olivier Elima, who then scored his first, and only, try of the game. The successful conversion attempt from Walker brought the score to 10-6. But fortunately for Wakefield, Luke George collected a well placed kick to the corner to bring the score level, 10-10 at the break.
The Catalans pack showed their strength at the start of the second half with Sebastian Martins forcing his way through the Wakefield defensive line directly under the sticks. In the past Wakefield’s heads may have gone down and they have let the opposition score again but their new found resilience shone through, which gives Wakefield fans hope for the season that lies ahead.
The influential scrum half Danny Brough then set up Dale Morton for his first. Almost immediately after, Ben Jeffries broke through the disheartened defence and left it to Glen Morrison to turn the chance into points.
Dale Morton received a long pass that came to him via a few bounces on the grass and finished with ease. Danny Brough converted a late penalty kick, and the Catalan Dragons scored another try in response, but it was too little too late; Wakefield had already sealed their revenge for last seasons play-off defeat.
The one potential concern for Wakefield was the loss of new signing Paul Johnson, who left the field through injury just minutes after coming off the bench for his debut, but Wakefield Coach John Kear mentioned in his post match interview that he should be back playing again soon. He also spoke positively about the current squad, and how he is excited about the season to come, hopefully proving a few critics wrong, and improving on last seasons 5 th place finish. It will be interesting to see how Wakefield can perform against last seasons Champions, Leeds Rhinos, followed by their runners up, St.Helens. Catch Kear’s post match press interview with the video we shot, as well as the one we got with Catalan coach Kevin Walters.