Wakefield Trinity 16 St Helens 24: Wakefield pay the penalty as Saints grab win

Leading 16-4 early in the second half, Wildcats were in a winning position, but their failure to hang on left coach Richard Agar frustrated with both his players and referee Tim Roby.

After deservedly opening their 12-point advantage, Wakefield then conceded five successive penalties and by the time Roby next whistled in their favour, they were eight behind.

Saints’ 24-16 win maintained their 100 per cent record and lifted them above Friday’s opponents Leeds Rhinos back into top spot in the Super League table.

And while Wakefield could take great heart from pushing an admittedly depleted Saints so hard, they will feel it was one that got away.

“A lot of penalties went against us,” Agar said afterwards. “I thought we were doing really well and it was a decent game in the first half.

“It was a bit frantic, but there was good speed to the game with both teams looking to attack.

“It was a fairly close game and when we went 16-4 up it was a really good start to the second half, but we had a period when we touched the ball three times in 15 sets and it was during that period that they came up with four tries.

“My beef with my team is that we’ve got to be a little bit stronger and when momentum is against us we have got to work extra hard to break it.

“I felt we didn’t do that and we need to show a bit more resilience under pressure.”

Saints had the better of the opening 20 minutes, which were scoreless, though Wakefield twice got over the line without reward. Early on Jimmy Keinhorst crossed, but Pita Godinet’s pass was ruled forward – a decision Agar disagreed with – and then Nick Scruton forced his way over from Paul McShane’s pass, but could not get the ball down.

The opening try did not come until the 23rd minute and – after some outstanding one-on-one defence earlier on – it should have been prevented. Reece Lyne seemed to have dealt with Josh Jones, but he fell off the tackle and the centre touched down, from Tom Makinson’s pass, after a break by Willie Manu.

Wakefield then scored three tries in 12 minutes either side of the interval to take what looked like being a match-winning grip on the game.

Captain Danny Kirmond equalised on 30 after good work by McShane and Matt Ryan, who came off the bench to play in the right-centre after Keinhorst left the action inside the opening quarter due to a recurrence of a hamstring injury.

Four minutes before the interval successive penalties put Saints in a dangerous attacking position, but James Roby’s loose pass was snapped up by Jarrod Sammut close to his own line.

He made it into the Saints’ half before finding the supporting Lyne, who took the well-timed pass and held off the defence on a sprint to the line.

Referee Roby ignored claims of interference by Sammut after the stand-off had passed and the former Bradford man defied the swirling wind with a well-struck conversion. Then two minutes into the second half McShane threw an outrageous dummy close to the Saints line, on the last tackle, and nipped through a gap for the hosts’ third try, with Sammut’s goal putting Wildcats two converted tries clear.

Wakefield never looked totally comfortable, but should have been able to close the game out, had they enjoyed an equal share of possession.

Australian play-maker Luke Walsh was the undoubted star of Saints’ opening five wins, but Paul Wellens and Jon Wilkin – their makeshift half-back pairing – steered them home.

The fightback began on 48 minutes when Sia Soliola went over from Wellens’s pass in front of the posts, Makinson adding the extras.

Seven minutes after that Wellens chipped in-goal and Matt Dawson, on his debut, just got the ball down before it went dead.

That left Saints two points adrift, but three minutes later Joe Greenwood – called into the side moments before kick-off when Lance Hohaia pulled out – stormed through from a pass by Wilkin.

Makinson kicked the conversion and then completed the scoring soon after that with a spectacular catch and touchdown from Wilkin’s kick to the corner.

Agar claimed the game was “refereed differently” in the second half to the first – and hinted that could have been due to intervention by match officials’ coach Steve Ganson.

Agar said he had been told 
Ganson entered the referee’s changing room during the break to give Roby “a good old dressing down”.

Match commissioner David Asquith confirmed Ganson had visited the officials during half-time, but declined to reveal what was discussed.

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats: Mathers, Fox, Keinhorst, Lyne, Riley, Sammut, Godinet, Anderson, McShane, Scruton, Lauitiiti, Kirmond, Tautai. Substitutes: Raleigh, Ryan, Smith, Siejka.

St Helens: Lomax, Makinson, Jones, Dawson, Swift, Wellens, Wilkin, Amor, Roby, Laffranchi, Manu, Flanagan, Walker. Substitutes: Hohaia, Masoe, Soliola, Richards.

Referee: T Roby (RFL).