Wakefield Trinity 22 Widness Vikings 18: Wakefield deal with pressure to remain in control

Richard Agar’s side had not graced the top eight since they beat Widnes on the opening day of this season way back in February yet, with a push timed to perfection, they have edged up there once more with an admittedly nervous victory over the same opponents.

It all means that if Wakefield win again against Salford City Reds on Saturday evening, their final regular round of this fascinating campaign, they will have secured a place in the play-offs for only a third time in their history.

It was captain Danny Kirmond who sealed this victory in the 76th minute which in comparison to their previous two outings was still quite early in the affair.

Against both St Helens and Hull KR, dead-eyed stand-off Paul Sykes had won each contest in the dying seconds with a drop-goal so Agar should not really have had much to worry about here.

“I’ve got a headache,” was his immediate response after entering the pre-match press conference, before delivering a more detailed analysis of an encounter which, for all its drama, had been far from pretty on the eye.

“I think both coaches will be frustrated and disappointed with the amount of skill on show.

“There was plenty of effort but with the ball we lacked skill, composure, any imagination ... our offence was a complete write-off.

“We were lucky to get away with that on the back of the amount of errors we made. Whether there was some anxiety and a little bit more pressure on the players as other results had gone our way I’m not too sure.

“Being at this stage now we’ve got to handle it a lot better but we’ve found a way to win again.”

Undoubtedly, the resolve and spirit this Wakefield side has engendered over the course of their recent run – their finest in any regular Super League campaign – came to the fore just at it looked like they were going to blow their chance of gate-crashing the play-off party.

Tenth-placed Hull KR had blown a massive lead against leaders Wigan yesterday afternoon to see their hopes disappear while Bradford had lost to Hull FC on Saturday meaning Trinity would replace them in eighth with victory against bottom-placed Widnes.

However, there was none of the swagger and confidence that had underlined their form of late, a raft of uncharacteristic errors making for a largely bitty and tetchy game.

Widnes were on top 10-6 at the break following two brilliant individual tries from scrum-half Rhys Hanbury, the first coming after Sykes failed to find touch with a penalty and the second following the sort of delightful chip-and-chase you normally only see in school playgrounds.

Trinity prop Kyle Amor charged over in between off a typical Tim Smith assist for Sykes to convert, but there was obvious tension around a nervous Belle Vue.

When the influential Hanbury departed shortly after the break, though, things seemed to look more promising for Wakefield if they could simply regain some order of their own.

Richard Mathers duly made the breakthrough in the 51st minute with Tim Smith typically having a big hand in the move again.

His sharp pass to Frankie Mariano caused panic in the Widnes ranks and, though the ball went to ground, a swift pick-up was handed to Mathers who dummied and stretched over.

Sykes missed the conversion, however, to leave the game level at 10-10 and yet another Trinity error allowed Widnes to quickly respond.

Unusually, it was Tim Smith at fault, his needless forward pass to Ben Cockayne on his own 40m line gifting Widnes possession.

Their wide defence was then caught hopelessly tight as Dave Allen’s standard pass put Paddy Flynn over in the corner in the 58th minute.

McShane’s second conversion gave Widnes the ascendancy before Tim Smith found his range once more to slip Mariano through on a charging run through midfield and Ali Lauitiiti, who had another terrific game in the Wakefield pack, supported to stride over besides the posts.

Sykes made sure with the conversion to level again and he added a penalty in the 66th minute to put them in front.

Trinity winger Peter Fox had done brilliantly to take a high Danny Craven kick on his own line and then break clear, Kyle Wood offering the link.

He was chopped down though by a high tackle from Flynn who was also dispatched to the sin-bin.

Typically, Wakefield invited their opponents back in when Lee Smith conceded a silly penalty which the returning Hanbury converted but there was no denying Agar’s side.

The attacking class which had eluded them for so long returned as Tim Smith’s inside pass gave Sykes space and then Wood sprinted on.

He should, really, have found his support but instead dummied full-back Shaun Briscoe and almost got caught before finding Kirmond who charged to the corner.

Wakefield, who lost centre Dean Collis to a head knock in the first half, now face Salford on Saturday (6.15) after their game was put back from Friday for Sky television purposes.

It remains to be seen where exactly, though, as landlords Sale Sharks are at home that day so Salford may have to switch to Leigh.

Agar added: “We’ll play anywhere. We just want to take out any doubt next week and not rely on anyone else.

“But we don’t want to limp in the eight and be happy – we want to get in there and have a real crack.”

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats: Mathers; Fox, Collis, L Smith, Cockayne; Sykes, T Smith; Amor, Ellis, Raleigh, Lauitiiti, Kirmond, Washbrook. Substitutes: Wood, Mariano, Johnson, Wilkes.

Widnes Vikings: Briscoe; Flynn, Marsh, Phelps, Isa; Craven, Hanbury; Pickersgill, Clarke, Kite, Winterstein, Allen, Cahill. Substitutes: Davies, Kavnagh, Gerrard, McShane.

Referee: J Child (Dewsbury)