|
|
Wakefield Wildcats Vs. St. Helens 18th February 2007
St Helens slumped to their second defeat in a row at Belle Vue on Sunday at the hands of the Wakefield Wildcats.
After a disappointing result against Hull KR in Round 1, the Wildcats were determined to bounce back against the reigning Super League Champions St Helens. The Saints however, were looking to get back to winning ways too, after a defeat to Harlequins at home the previous weekend.
The only change for the Wildcats saw Duncan MacGillivray return after injury, with Jason Golden who impressed against Hull KR, missing out on a place within the squad
.
The Wildcats and the Saints were fairly matched in the first 10 minutes with the only difference being a 2 point gap courtesy of the boot of Jamie Rooney. Not long after, with 15 minutes on the clock, Mike Bennett crossed for St Helens after some weak defending from Wakefield after a break 20 metres from the Wildcats line. With Sean Long able to add the two, the Saints held a 6-2 lead.
This lead was soon to be stretched further, with Sean Long running at the Wildcats’ defence and bringing James Graham back on the inside for a simple Saints try at the side of the uprights, followed by an easy conversion for Long.
The Wildcats reply came on the half-hour mark through new signing Brett Ferres, who arrived from the Bulls in the off-season. The Wildcats forced Saints to dropout, before moving the ball along the line to Ferres, who sidestepped the defence to cross in the corner. With Rooney unable to convert the try, the score read 6-12.
The Saints lead was soon to be stretched further when poor defence by the Wildcats allowed Pryce to barge over the line on 35 minutes, once again at the side of the sticks meaning Long was easily able to convert, making the score 6-18 at half-time.
The second half saw the Wildcats come out all guns blazing and an early try came through NedCatic, which signaled the start of a Wildcats onslaught. A break by Jason Demetriou on the right-hand side of the field broke down the Saints defence, a neat offload to Rooney was finally finished by Ned Catic who was able to charge over the line for a fine Wakefield try. Rooney was unable to add the extra points, with the Wildcats within 8 points of the Champions.
Wakefield were looking strong at this point but 15 minutes into the second half dealt the Wildcats a huge blow. Captain Jason Demetriou was stretched off following a bad collision in the tackle with a St Helens player. The loss of the Captain meant John Kear had to move his side around to compensate for the injury, however the Wildcats weren’t deterred and 8 minutes later, Ryan Atkins crashed over the Saints line off the back of a penalty. Latu was involved in the move with a smart pass to Atkins which broke the Saints defence. Rooney this time converted the try with an excellent kick from the touchline.
With a second try in three in minutes, the Wildcats took the lead off the St Helens, this time it was Rooney who crossed after some good passing by Wakefield. A good pass from Jeffries put Rooney into space and with loose defending from St Helens, Rooney managed to jink, duck and dive past the would-be defenders to score underneath the posts. Rooney converted his own try taking the score to 22-18.
The final Wakefield try came from debutant Matt Blaymire, another new recruit by John Kear. The try came after some great defence from Atkins and Obst who pushed Lee Gilmour into touch and from the scrum, Olivier Elima made an excellent break and put Blaymire over under the sticks, which again Rooney converted. Three minutes later Rooney stretched the Wildcats lead with a drop-goal to put 11 points between the sides with three minutes of the game remaining. The Saints managed to score a consolation try after smart passing which put Ade Gardner over in the corner. Final score 29-22.
A very pleasing afternoon from John Kear’s men after excellent pre-match entertainment from Matt Willis in front of a 7385 strong crowd.
|
|
|
|
