Wakefield Trinity Ladies RL bow out of the Challenge Cup in the group stages following a 14-12 defeat to Oulton at the Be Well Support Stadium.
Two tries in the first half gave the visitors an 8-0 lead at the break. Trinity hit back in the second half, drawing the scores level until a late penalty swung the contest in Oulton’s favour.
With a huge match ahead, nerves were high in the opening exchanges as both sides found their feet in their contest.
The first real chance fell to Trinity, though, as the home side broke through a powerful run from Lisa Taylor opened up the field, however, acute offload was knocked on.
Wakefield looked to rue that missed opportunity, and just minutes later, back-to-back penalties for the visitors saw Oulton open the scoring. The ball was fed out to the right before coming back inside, catching the home side napping, to touch down.
An arm-wrestle ensued and it took until the end of the first half for another score to be registered ass Oulton added a second.
After a knock-on in centre-field, the ball was fed out to the right, where Trinity was short on numbers, eventually touching down in the corner despite a huge effort from Aimee-Leigh Wood.
A knock-on in centre-field offered Trinity their best chance in the closing stages of the first half. Wakefield worked it well across the line to Abby Price, but her neat kick was just too strong.
Growing into the contest, Trinity looked to bounce back well. Saskia Lewis caused problems for the away side with near kicks into the in-goal, however, Wakefield was unable to capitalise.
The second half started much to the same tune, Trinity applying the pressure and finally getting their reward as Lauren Harvey went over.
The forward picked the ball up around 10 metres out, powering her way through the Oulton defence to put Trinity within two points.
However, despite a positive start to the second period, it was the away side who struck next. The ball was worked out wide, then, on the next play, the Raidettes darted over from dummy-half.
The drama didn’t stop there, however. After two players were sent to the bin, Trinity capitalised as Libby Priestley went over.
The forward picked her spot and touched down following an incredible run with, what looked like, the whole Oulton defence on her back to draw the score level.
With the score at 12-12, Oulton took the two points on offer after a high-shot just 20 metres out, cementing the victory, meaning Trinity bow out of the Challenge Cup.