May 6, 2017

Trinity Hold Off Centurions

Wakefield Trinity secured back-to-back victories after a securing a win against Leigh Centurions in a back and fourth game at Leigh Sports Village.

It was a game that Trinity could and should have won comfortably, poor runs either side of half-time meant Chris Chester’s men almost let this one slip, however the team rallied on to secure the two points.

Going down the tunnel for half time, Trinity would have been disappointed with just an eight-point lead. The visitors were dominant early on but a series of unforced mistakes meant that Trinity lead by only six points.

Trinity got off to a flying start to the match, scoring a try in the opening two minutes. Jacob Miller kicked the ball into touch 20 metres out from a penalty and moments later Matty Ashurst found Miller to give Trinity an early lead.

It didn’t take long for Trinity to score again. Mason Caton-Brown received the ball on the left wing, and made a brilliant run towards the right side of the pitch before passing on to Danny Kirmond who pushed through the Leigh defence to score.

Wakefield were awarded a penalty due to a Leigh interference and Liam Finn stepped up to take a penalty kick for two points, giving Trinity a 14-0 lead 10 minutes in.

Trinity were absolutely dominant in the opening 15 minutes and that was highlighted further when Reece Lyne was able to intercept a sloppy Leigh pass in his own half and then run 70 metres to score Wakefield’s third try.

However, moments later Leigh managed to reply with a try of their own. It was sloppy play from Wakefield 10 metres out and Curtis Naughton reacted quickest to a loose ball in the whitewash to score.

The hosts looked to build on their opening try and did just that 18 minutes in. Jamie Acton pushed his way through the Wakefield defensive line to bring Leigh back into the game.

Trinity were awarded a penalty 20 metres out and opted to take another penalty kick. Finn scoring meaning that Trinity’s lead goes back up to 10 points.

Minutes before the half-time whistle and Leigh were able to cut Trinity’s lead to just one try, Matty Dawson was able to cross into the try line on the right corner of the pitch. Josh Drinkwater missed the conversion.

Leigh started the second period strong and were able to bring themselves just two points behind when Greg McNally’s kick was caught and put down by Dawson who beat Caton-Brown in the air. Drinkwater’s missed conversion meant Trinity held a narrow 20-22 lead.

The hosts comeback was complete 49 minutes in when Kirmond dropped the ball following a Leigh kick on the last tackle. The mistake gave Naughton an easy opportunity to score and give the hosts their first lead of the evening.

The lead didn’t last long though. Six minutes later Wakefield had edged back in front. Finn passed the ball to Miller who then found Joe Arundel who was able to finish by the right corner.

Leigh’s Danny Tickle was sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle on Ben Jones-Bishop. It looked like Jones-Bishop was going to be the fourth Trinity player to go off with concussion after Lyne, Miller and Hadley had previously gone down, fortunately, Jones-Bishop recovered.

Trinity instantly took advantage of the one-man advantage when Bill Tupou and Caton-Brown charged up the left wing. Tupou waited for the challenge from the defender before releasing Caton-Brown for his first try of the evening.

Leigh would have got themselves back in it if not for a forward pass. However, Trinity punished Leigh moments later when Kirmond broke through the Leigh defensive line to score his second try right behind the sticks.

Full Time: Leigh Centurions 26-40 Wakefield Trinity

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