Wakefield Trinity 18-25 Catalans Dragons: Ben Garcia try seals Magic Weekend win
By Marc Bazeley at Anfield
Last Updated: 25/05/19 5:31pm
Ben Garcia's try in the dying minutes ensured Catalans Dragons kicked off the Super League Magic Weekend at Anfield with a hard-fought 25-18 victory over Wakefield Trinity.
Defence was on top for both teams during much of the first half, but Fouad Yaha's unconverted try and Tony Gigot finishing a neat piece of interplay, along with kicking a conversion and a penalty, saw the Catalans lead 12-0 at half time.
Chris Chester's men stormed back after the break and racked up 14 unanswered points to lead after 48 minutes and it was an even tussle from then on until Catalans talisman Gigot slotted a drop-goal late on followed by second row Garcia burrowing over for his second try of the game.
Another concern for Wakefield head coach Chester will be the status of Man of Steel contender David Fifita, who was seen on crutches with his left knee strapped up after being injured in a tackle by Sam Moa which saw the Catalans prop placed on report.
Trinity were gifted a superb opportunity soon after the kick-off when the Dragons knocked on from their first set of six, with Ryan Hampshire snaffling the loose ball. However, Matty Ashurst and Craig Kopczak were both stopped short before the ball was kicked dead in-goal.
At the other end, full-back Gigot forced a goal-line drop-out and the Catalans then had David Mead held up over the line, followed by the video referee determining winger Yaha had been unable to ground the ball in the corner, thanks to some solid defensive work for Wakefield.
That set the tone for the game until the 16th minute, when a long spell inside Trinity's 20-metre zone saw Catalans patiently keep the ball alive, and work it out to Yaha for him to force his way over on the left wing for an unconverted score.
Wakefield got the ball back almost straight from the restart, thanks to an incorrect play-the-ball by the French side on the first tackle, but despite forcing a drop-out they were unable to get over.
Indeed, the closest they came to getting on the board in the first 40 minutes was when Mason Caton-Brown was sent darting through the defence, only for referee Scott Mikalauskas to pull play back for a forward pass before he could reach the try-line.
It looked like it would take something special for either team to breach the other's defence and that came in the 31st minute when Kenny Edwards flung a cut-out pass wide to Yaha, who in turn swiftly sent the ball back inside for Man of the Match Gigot to race over for a try which he also converted.
Superb defence from Caton-Brown and Tafega Sa'u prevented Lewis Tierney from adding to the Dragons' tally three minutes later, but France international Gigot ensured they led by 12 points at half time by slotting over a penalty.
The game was turned on its head by Trinity within nine minutes of the second half getting underway though, starting from the kick-off when Caton-Brown burst clear down the left, and great support running from Jacob Miller and hooker Kyle Wood led to the former sending the latter in for a try converted by Hampshire.
Then when Tierney was unable to take a high ball cleanly under pressure, leading to a drop-out, Wakefield set up an attack which led to long-serving second row Danny Kirmond rampaging through from 20 metres out to score on 45 minutes, followed by Hampshire adding the extras.
Scrum-half Hampshire slotted over a penalty to edge Trinity ahead three minutes later and they were unfortunate not to add a third try soon after, when Caton-Brown leapt for the line, only to be deemed in touch by the video referee.
The Catalans regained the lead in the 57th minute after Wakefield had knocked on and the Perpignan-based outfit quickly worked the ball out from the resulting scrum to send Ben Garcia crashing over for a try converted by Gigot.
The Dragons were then on the defensive for a long period and Wakefield eventually got their reward in the 68th minute as Miller's grubber forced a goal-line drop out, followed by Max Jowitt sending Ben Jones-Bishop over for an unconverted try wide on the right to level the match.
But with golden-point extra-time looming and fewer than four minutes to play, Gigot landed a drop-goal from around 40 metres to edge the Dragons ahead, with Garcia then forcing his way over for a converted try with the final act of the match to make it three Super League wins in a row for Steve McNamara's side.
Match reaction
Tony Gigot once again played a starring role for the Catalans Dragons as they defeated Wakefield Trinity in the opening Magic Weekend fixture.
Catalans head coach Steve McNarama was pleased with the way his side dug in to secure victory over Wakefield.
Trinity head coach Chris Chester gave his views after they fell short in a close-fought contests with Catalans.
