'Stay focused': Mark Applegarth's message to Wakefield Trinity after 'excellent' win

Rock-bottom Trinity boosted their fight to avoid relegation with a four-try victory over the Red Devils, with Liam Kay, Reece Lyne, Will Dagger and Lee Kershaw the players to touch down.

Wakefield are now just four points below neighbours Castleford Tigers but Applegarth has stressed the importance of remaining grounded.

“We’ve been waiting for it all year,” he said.

“We talked about having a big start, we didn’t want to do that again after last week. I’m really pleased we stuck to the plan. One to 17 did the job.

“We’ve closed that [relegation] gap but we’ve still got some work to do. We’ve been working hard and I’m just pleased for the lads.

“[But] we’re not getting to get carried away with ourselves. It was an excellent performance but we need to back it up.

“You’ve got to stay focused. It feels good, it feels nice. No one likes losing.

“But it’s really important you stay level-headed and don’t get too caught up with the emotion of it all. We’ll just take it a week at a time.”

Applegarth praised the influence of Luke Gale, who was playing just his second game for Wakefield.

“I thought Luke did a cracking job directing us around, it’s something we’ve been crying out for,” he said.

“He allowed Max (Jowitt) and Daggs to play their natural game. He’s excellent for that.”

Salford coach Paul Rowley, whose side trailed 22-0 at half-time and could only get on the scoresheet through a converted Alex Gerrard try, described the defeat as the worst performance since he took over at the start of 2021.

The Red Devils were dominated by their fired-up opponents in an error-strewn display.

“We knew that it would be do-or-die for Wakefield,” Rowley said.

“They’re used to this sort of jeopardy, cliff-edge sort of moment. We expected that, and so it was important we had a lot of enthusiasm and energy. So we got out-enthused, they did the basics better than us.

“It’s probably the worst performance since I’ve been in charge. It’s tough after a short turnaround from Wigan, but I don’t want to take away from a team that was desperate and played fantastically well.

“We had enough players out there to do a job, I’m disappointed.”

Salford have now lost their past three games.

“We back ourselves every week,” Rowley said.

“We don’t like losing, it’s as simple as that. It’s important we’re a good team, we will get stronger. We have to hold our nerve. We definitely won’t waver in our beliefs.”