Wigan Warriors 28 Wakefield Trinity 16 - Spirited Trinity downed by clinical Warriors

Chris Chester’s side produced one of their best displays since the competition resumed last month but were left with nothing to show for it against a clinical Wigan Warriors outfit.

Trinity’s effort, attitude and character has been questioned at times since the season restarted but none of those qualities were lacking on Friday night.

The only thing they lacked was some cutting edge, as they dominated the possession and territory for much of the game but could not make it count.

They led 12-0 midway through the first half but five unanswered Wigan tries took the game away from Trinity.

Wakefield are the only club without a win since August but looked good value until second-half tries from Sam Powell, Oliver Gildart and a second score from Bevan French took the game beyond them.

Wakefield’s squad picked itself ahead of kick-off, as Chester was left with only 17 available players after more positive Covid-19 tests were reported at the club this week.

Despite being down a number of squad members, Trinity were able to welcome back star winger Tom Johnstone after he recovered from an arm injury which he sustained last month.

Meanwhile, Matty Ashurst had been drafted in during the week to bolster Wakefield’s ranks, coming off parental leave early following the birth of his baby on Monday. Wakefield met Wigan last month in what was both clubs’ first game of Super League’s restart, with the Warriors edging a close contest 23-22.

Friday night’s match followed a similar pattern, with the sides locked at 12-12 after the opening 40 minutes and it remained that way until the latter stages of the game when a trio of quickfire tries won it for the Warriors.

Wakefield took the lead when Jordan Crowther, who was deployed at hooker, fired a pass to Miller who spun out of the tackle and forced the ball down despite the attention of two Wigan defenders.

It was the first time since the resumption that Trinity had claimed the opening try, as they produced the fight and determination that has been sorely missing in previous outings.

Soon after, they forced Wigan into touch 40 metres from the try-line and got their reward with more points as Crowther was again the provider, this time for Tini Arona, who did well to gather a high pass and plunge over between the posts.

The tries came in front of the stand that normally houses the away fans at the Halliwell Jones Stadium but the only cheers came from the Wakefield bench with just banners and a small number of camera crew occupying the away terraces.

It will be scenes that could be witnessed for the entire 2020 season, following the latest Government rulings which will not allow supporters to return in limited numbers from October 1.

Both teams did their part to provide the entertainment for the fans watching at home, as the Warriors hit back with a fantastic try which was made by Liam Farrell’s line break and finished under the posts by the supporting Jackson Hastings.

All of Trinity’s hard work in the opening quarter was undone in a matter of minutes as French and Joe Burgess combined to claim the Warriors’ second score of the night.

French found his winger on the outside and moved up in support for Burgess to return the ball and the half-back ran to score by the posts to give Zak Hardaker an easy conversion and level proceedings.

Wakefield spent the opening minutes of the second half camped on Wigan’s line but could not make their dominance count.

Trinity were made to pay for their lack of sharpness in attack as Wigan took a 16-point lead through Powell, Gildart and French’s scores.

Wakefield were twice denied by the video referee but pulled one try back through Johnstone who squeezed over in the corner to give the scoreline a fairer reflection.

Wigan Warriors: French; Bibby, Hardaker, Gildart, Burgess, Leuluai, Hastings; Flower, Powell, Harvard, Isa, Farrell, Partington. Substitutes: Clark, Shorrocks, Smith, Wells.

Wakefield Trinity: Walker; Jones-Bishop, Lyne, Tupou, Johnstone, Miller, Gigot; Kopczak, Crowther, Arona, Pitts, Tanginoa, Westerman. Substitutes: Wood, Ashurst, Green, Tangata.

Referee: James Child (Dewsbury).

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Thank you

James Mitchinson