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Kear blasts Wakefield Wildcats after Super League defeat to Crusaders
WAKEFIELD Wildcats were described as "abysmal" by head coach John Kear as they lost 20-10 in their Super League XV clash at home to Crusaders.
The Wildcats were made to pay for poor execution and a lacklustre display as Crusaders celebrated their second away victory of the season.
The visitors broke the deadlock in the sixth minute when a penalty allowed Crusaders to establish camp deep into Wakefield territory and a slick move along the line ended with former Welsh rugby union star Gareth Thomas crashing over on the right wing. Scrum-half Michael Witt failed with the conversion.
Wakefield were finding it tough to get back in the game but they took the lead on the quarter-hour.
Another penalty allowed the Wildcats to enjoy a rare excursion into the visitors' territory and the ball was eventually fed out wide where winger Damien Blanch raced over for a score converted by Paul Cooke.
The lead was short-lived however and only three minutes later Cooke's grubber kick in midfield ricocheted into the hands of Witt who outpaced the hosts to touch-down and add the extras.
Cooke's contribution with the boot was to have a more positive outcome on 26 minutes when his good kick from an offside penalty set up good field position and Luke George latched onto a short pass to speed in from 25 metres out. Cooke converted to level the game again.
Dropped passes and unforced errors ensured there was no further scores in the first period and that pattern continued after the break.
Twice in the opening 10 minutes of the half Wakefield squandered good opportunities trying to force unnecessary passes and another error led to Crusaders regaining the lead 14 minutes after the resumption.
With Wakefield 20 metres from the try-line, a loose kick on the fifth tackle was picked up by Nick Youngquest and he sprinted the length of the field to make it 14-10 before Witt added the conversion to give the visitors a 16-10 advantage.
Relinquished possession put the game beyond Wakefield 13 minutes from time. A dropped ball turned the ball over to the Welsh side in midfield and Vince Mellars ended a strong set by diving over from short range. Witt missed the conversion.
Wakefield tried to respond and Damien Blanch went close to latching onto Tevita Leo-Latu's grubber kick on 75 minutes but the visitors held on to take the points.
A furious Kear said: "I thought the performance was unacceptable. We are in a hole and we are not showing signs of getting out of it at the minute.
"We are obviously missing personnel we started the season with but we are not showing signs that we are improving we are just showing signs that we are deteriorating.
"It's worrying and certainly hurting us in the changing room. I hope it is hurting the players because it certainly wasn't acceptable for the fans who pay their hard-earned money to come here and watch that."
Crusaders head coach Brian Noble was pleased with the contribution of former Wales rugby union star Gareth Thomas, who scored his first Super League try to help his side to victory.
Thomas crossed to break the deadlock at the Hearwell Stadium and Noble praised the performance of his winger saying: "The best compliment I can pay him today is that he looked like a rugby league player.
"He didn't look out of place at all and he is big and strong and will get better and better.
Noble added: "We worked really hard and I am thoroughly pleased but we could have made the game a whole lot easier for ourselves."
Read this week's Wakefield Express for more news from the Wakefield Wildcats.
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Weather for Wakefield
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Light snow
Temperature: -6 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -1 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
