WATCH - Another loss hard to take for Wakefield's Chester

WAKEFIELD TRINITY coach Chris Chester made no attempt to hide his dismay after a fifth successive defeat.

Trinity, who won their opening four games in Betfred Super League, were pipped 28-26 by visitors Leeds Rhinos yesterday, after leading 12-6 at half-time and 20-12 midway through the second half.

The loss came 11 days after an 11-6 reverse against Castleford Tigers and six days on from a last-gasp one-point setback at Hull.

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Reflecting on yesterday’s setback, Chester said: “We are frustrated because we could have won.

Chris ChesterChris Chester
Chris Chester

“I felt it was an even contest, but Leeds just managed to get the two points.

“That’s five losses on the bounce now. It’s not a good place to be in, but there’s lots of things we can be positive about.”

He added: “What disappoints us most as staff is we spoke all week about Leeds and what their threats are and we had to make sure we made our one-on-one tackles.

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“We didn’t do that, we were soft defensively and that’s disappointing. The effort was great, but we weren’t smart enough.

Brian McDermottBrian McDermott
Brian McDermott

“Our game management wasn’t great, but I am more frustrated with the defensive lapses and one-on-one misses.

“They scored three tries from kicks and we needed to defend them better as well. I am really frustrated, we know we are not a million miles away, but we can’t keep saying the same thing week-in, week-out.”

Rhinos collected five points from their three games in 10 days over the Easter period.

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Kallum Watkins’ two tries and four conversions – from five attempts – were crucial in the win at Wakefield and coach Brian McDermott saluted a “big knock” from his captain.

Chris ChesterChris Chester
Chris Chester

He said: “He is in good form and he is relishing the role of captain.

“To captain this group you’ve got to have a certain personality and a bit of presence about you and Kallum is doing a great job.”

On the game, McDermott added: “There were so many ebbs and flows, I should imagine it was a good game to watch. I thought it was a really significant win, to build a team’s personality and character and identity.”