Winning ugly is fine for McClennan following Trinity success

The defending champions finished with a flourish after capitalising on a late yellow card for Wildcats forward Glenn Morrison to register their sixth successive victory in all competitions.

The scores were tied at 18-18 with eight minutes remaining when former Bradford star Morrison caught Lee Smith late and Kevin Sinfield's penalty edged the Rhinos ahead.

Their victory was sealed moments later when Danny Buderus ran in his side's fourth try and left Wakefield utterly deflated after they had contributed to a thrilling encounter.

"It was good to get the win," said McClennan. "An ugly win is better than a pretty loss.

"The lads showed character and I believe they always do."

When the Wildcats led 12-0 after just nine minutes with tries from Morrison and Sam Obst, it was no more than they deserved.

But Leeds hit back with converted tries from Danny McGuire and Jamie Jones-Buchanan to draw level before Wakefield edged back in front with a penalty from Paul Cooke.

As rain began to pour, the greasy conditions made for a scrappy encounter, although Leeds led for the first time on the stroke of half-time when Scott Donald finished off a fine move in the right corner.

"It wasn't a pretty game, that's for sure," reflected McClennan, who was left frustrated at the speed of the play-the-balls.

"The heavens opened and although we did try to play some footie, we coughed up some ball.

"But the play-the-balls were just too slow. It's frustrating for the players to try and get playing and I think it's the same for every team. It's not an enjoyable game when it's like that."

Aaron Murphy went over in the left corner to draw Wakefield level in the 50th minute but Cooke failed to convert and Morrison's late challenge on Smith with eight minutes remaining ended the visitors' hopes.

Sinfield, who finished with six goals, kicked the penalty and then Buderus crossed the line to ensure Jason Demetriou's late try was mere consolation for the Wildcats.

"I'm not going to use the sin-binning as a reason or as an excuse," said Wakefield coach John Kear.

"We set out to gain control of the game and went 12-0 up and completed five sets out of five. But from the 10th to 25th minute we let Leeds back into it.

"However, I can't fault the effort or the application of the players because I thought they showed some great resolve and character.

"Over the 80 minutes it was a manful effort and a courageous effort."

Salford coach Shaun McRae was disappointed with the result but delighted with his team's efforts in their 27-10 home defeat by Warrington.

The Wolves ran up a century of points in their first two meetings with Salford, including a 68-16 mauling at Murrayfield a month ago, but McRae's men, fresh from back-to-back wins over St Helens and Catalans Dragons, this time pushed their opponents all the way.

"It was an improvement since the last time we played them in Edinburgh," said McRae. "It was important we responded.

"It's our third loss but the best loss. We were very much in the game and the fact that Lee Briers dropped a goal was an indication that they may have been concerned about us.

"We didn't deserve the scoreline at the end.

"We're disappointed we lost the game because we felt we could win."