Wakefield Trinity 6 Crusaders 40: Wakefield humbled by defeat to lowly Crusaders

THE resounding song emanating from the Crusaders dressing room said it all: “Super League, you’re having a laugh.”

This, indeed, was not a Super League performance from a turgid Wakefield Trinity who should have been rejoicing after having their licence renewed against all odds on Tuesday.

They have an unexpected second chance at becoming a worthy top-flight club yet yesterday played like they did not have a care in the world.

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Those spirited Crusaders players do have genuine problems knowing they will be out of a job at the end of the season following their club’s shock decision to withdraw from the elite.

However, they did not let it show as they produced a performance of immense character, exploiting their woeful visitors’ obvious lethargy to record only a fifth win of the season.

It is hard to explain why Wakefield were so dismal but maybe New Bounce’s non-performance at half-time was a sign of things to come.

The Britain’s Got Talent act were unable to sing any of their songs due to technical problems with Wakefield’s audio system, an embarrassing malfunction for the club who are supposed to be worthy of one of those cherished licences.

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Trinity – trailing just 6-0 at the turnaround – showed no signs of power either after the return, switching off completely to concede six second-half tries and leave their angered supporters, who had arrived to party, jeering them off.

They lost Josh Griffin inside the opening five minutes, meaning Motu Tony earned an early taste of the action, while Crusaders forward Jordan James was also helped off injured soon after.

That injury news was pretty much the only incidents of the first half which was as drab as anything you would expect from a 13th versus 14th encounter in Super League.

Lincoln Withers – along with Crusaders prop Gil Dudson one of the few players looking remotely capable of sparking anything – finally broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute but typically it was a scrappy affair.

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After forcing a drop-out following Michael Witt’s telling kick, Vince Mellars went close down the left making the most of some abject Trinity defence.

Elliot Kear’s pass out of dummy half went to ground and wily hooker Withers picked it up on the half-volley to expose a gap in the Wakefield defence between the posts and score his first try of the season.

Clinton Schifcofske converted but was there little else of note.

The visitors had the best of the limited chances and were the first to show any signs of scoring when a long whipped out pass from Witt saw Kear denied, his forced pass inside to Mellars bouncing forward

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Stuart Reardon then fumbled to waste another chance after good build-up from Witt and ex-Trinity centre Tony Martin.

However, the former Bradford winger produced two try-saving tackles in quick succession to deny the hosts, first denying Semi Tadulala as Wakefield attempted to run on the last tackle and then – after the Fijian had won the ball back – Reardon got back to deny Jeremy Smith with a brilliant cover effort.

Frankie Mariano was unlucky not to get over too as Crusaders showed great resilience in defence, Dudson producing a crunching effort on Michael Korkidas which prompted warm congratulations from all his colleagues, a sure sign the team spirit was still evident in the troubled Welsh club.

That was obvious after the break. Crusaders extended their lead within 68 seconds of the re-start having boldly taken a short kick-off which Frank Winterstein managed to win back.

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Witt was the creator, his pass inviting Lloyd White to surge through the merest of gaps, taking two defenders over with him.

Schifcofske slotted the conversion once more and Wakefield heaped more pressure on themselves when Chris Dean fumbled as they tried to run on the last tackle 30m from their own line.

Soon after, following a needless penalty conceded by Liam Higgins, White was over for his second.

The Trinity defensive line was again painfully slow and the replacement had no right to cross.

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They scored back-to-back tries as, straight from the restart, Martin escaped more woeful tackling to break down the right and put Reardon over, promoting the first boos of derision from the disillusioned home support.

Schifcofske improved both scores before Trinity finally put together a move of some cohesion for Veivers to score in the 57th minute, Smith re-gathering his own grubber to find his full-back on the inside.

Veivers added the extras and, with added vigour to their play, they should have further eaten into the deficit after Tommy Lee put Paul Johnson storming through.

However, the second-row’s pass to the supporting Smith – he perhaps could have advanced himself – was forward.

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A try then would have made for an interesting final quarter but, instead, the Crusaders steadied before running amok.

Mellars got a deserved try in the 70th minute after Withers and Peter Lupton had linked.

Withers produced another smart pass for James to crash over from close range four minutes later but, both times, the defence was simply abysmal once more.

Witt took over kicking duties to improve each score and Kear showed great pace to compound Wakefield’s misery with another try at the death, Martin this time converting from wide out.

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The Crusaders players, to a man, threw their shirts to the hundred or so ardent fans who had made the trip West. Wakefield’s players, though, had simply thrown the towel in long before.

For head coach John Kear, who has strove so hard for the club in such difficult circumstances over the last five years, it was a despicable display for him have to witness on the day after it was confirmed his reign is coming to an end.

Wakefield: Veivers; Griffin, Murphy, Dean, Tadulala; Smith, Lee; Higgins, Wildie, Amor, Mariano, Johnson, Henderson. Substitutes: Korkidas, Tony, Gledhill, Howarth.

Crusaders: Schifcofske; Reardon, Martin, Mellars, Kear; Witt, Lupton; O’Hara, Withers, James, Cahill, Chan, Williams. Substitutes: Moore, Dudson, Winterstein, White.

Referee: P Bentham (Warrington).