Wakefield 24-14 Leeds: Woeful Rhinos put to the sword as Trinity earn first win
Wakefield's hopes of finally getting off the mark in the Super League season seemed over as Hugo Salabio was sent off on debut against Leeds, but a swift double from Matty Ashurst and Morgan Smith saw Mark Applegarth's men claim a heroic win
Last Updated: 11/06/23 7:39pm
Twelve-man Wakefield claimed their first win of the Betfred Super League season at the 15th time of asking after sinking woeful Leeds Rhinos 24-14 at a baking-hot Belle Vue.
The hosts' hopes of shock win over their local rivals appeared all but over when debutant Hugo Salabio was sent off for a tip-tackle on Richie Myler with the scores level four minutes into the second half.
But a swift double from Matty Ashurst and Morgan Smith, aided by a string of dismal errors by their below-par opponents, saw Mark Applegarth's men hold out for an heroic win that just might kick their season into life.
From the opening exchanges when Mikolaj Oledzki and Nene Macdonald spurned golden chances to put the Rhinos in command, Wakefield rode their luck then persistently repelled the visitors' to take the points.
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Victory was all the more impressive for injury-hit Trinity who lost playmaker Mason Lino before kick-off, but they were bolstered by a pair of debutants in Salabio and Romain Franco as they managed to weather the early storm.
If there was an element of fortune about their opener they will claim it was a long time coming, as Will Dagger's wayward kick was flapped back into play by Lee Kershaw and Jack Croft gratefully gathered to go over.
Two minutes after Macdonald tripped over his own feet as he went for the corner, Wakefield extended their lead when Max Jowitt spun the ball right and Franco crossed for his first in Trinity colours.
Ominously for Trinity, Leeds clawed back to level at the interval as Myler's neat break sent Cameron Smith scurrying over, and three minutes later Blake Austin's impeccable 40-20 set up Myler to send Leon Ruan crashing over for his
first Rhinos try.
Salabio's exit was a blow but the Rhinos are all too aware of the potency of 12 men having performed wonders to sink Wigan last month, and Austin's horribly miscalculated drop-out gave Dagger the chance to kick the hosts back into a two-point lead.
Austin atoned for his error by galloping through unchallenged for the Rhinos' third try, but an error on the restart from Rhyse Martin handed Trinity another spell of pressure and ultimately another penalty that Dagger kicked to level.
Wakefield were refusing to go away, and a lightning-fast move from left to right resulted in Ash Handley being sent to the sin-bin for a trip on Jowitt as he chased his own kick into the corner.
Leeds imploded, as Ashurst clattered through to wrest back the momentum and within three minutes Myler's dropped kick let in Smith to lunge over the line, Dagger's second successful conversion pinging in off the post to put Wakefield 24-14 in front.
In baking temperatures there were to be no more painful twists for Trinity, as the Rhinos challenge wilted and Applegarth finally got the chance to celebrate his first win as Wakefield boss.
What they said
Wakefield coach Mark Applegarth:
"People have been questioning the team spirit and they have answered quite a few of those questions today.
"We have done it tough and the most pleasing thing is we have given ourselves a fighting chance. When we went down to 12 men it would have been quite easy to roll over and say 'here we go again', but we dug in and I'm really proud of
them.
"After going so many games without a win it gets the monkey off your back and it's not something I've ever experienced in my coaching career at any level. It takes that off us now and hopefully we can kick on. We've got about 12 players due back for the Hull KR game, and hopefully it will enable us to kick on and put some pressure on those teams around us."
Leeds coach Rohan Smith:
"It's a huge disappointment. Today it was unforced errors in open space that let us down. We made quite a few in-roads in that second half but didn't finish them off. We'll change things and improve, a lot.
"We just didn't play well enough. Collectively and individually we were nowhere near the standard. There's a lot of hurt and disappointment both for me personally and in the dressing room. It's not close to the standard so we've got to find it quick.
"We can choose to fight or we can choose to tap out now. There's only one solution, and that is to fight."
