Photos and reaction: Daryl Powell praises ‘courageous effort’ as Wakefield Trinity climb to third with win at York Knights

Despite being second best for the majority of the first half, Powell’s men somehow led 12-10 at the break before proving too strong for the Knights at the LNER Community Stadium last night (Friday).

Wingers Oliver Pratt and Tom Johnstone both grabbed two great tries, while Caleb Hamlin-Uele got his first for 2026 in a thrilling 26-14 triumph.

The triumph was made even sweeter with Trin having to “tough it out” after Max Jowitt was sent to the sin-bin late on.

It was Trinity’s fourth win on the spin in all competitions, and came on the same day when news broke of NRL great Roger Tuivasa-Sheck signing for the club from 2027.

Powell said after the victory: “I thought it was a courageous effort. York are a good team and have got so many really good players. I thought they were really good and we had to battle our way through it.

“And to do what we did when Max gets binned, to hold firm there and come out of the other side of it like we did with a couple of tries was great.

“I don’t think it’s a sin-bin. I think he kicks the ball before it gets to his hands. I thought what we did to finish the game off was great. It was a tough period for us.”

For large parts of the first half, Trin had to defend for their lives. In a hectic opening four minutes, they conceded two penalties and three set restarts as the Knights camped in their half.

It was a pretty similar theme to start the second half. On both occasions, Trin’s defence held firm.

Powell said: “First half we conceded and got ourselves back in it, we have done that throughout the last four games. There is a real depth of courage in the team and I think we will continue to get better the way that we are playing, but when you have got that knowledge that you can hang tough in those difficult situations then you have got confidence that you can get out of anything.

“It was nervy how the game went, our games are like that at the moment. I thought it was madness how the game started. The game is a chaotic game. Is it better? I’m not sure. There’s a balance to be had somewhere.

“The start to the first half was just chaotic and fast and we gave six again, six again, penalty, on line, under pressure constantly. I think we had over 50 play the balls inside our 20 which is a lot, so we had to hang tough there.

“And then the start to the second half we just went error, error, and put ourselves under intense pressure. We then won a challenge and started to get back into the game. The start to both halves was just chaotic for different reasons, some of it our fault, some it not.”

On the performance of Pratt, Powell added: “I thought Pratty was sensational in the game and for him to finish the way he did, he fully deserved that.”

Take a look through these photos from Wakefield Trinity’s win at York Knights courtesy of Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com