Wakefield Trinity came from 12 points down to beat nearby neighbours Featherstone 24-12 as we claim the Don Fox Memorial Trophy in our third pre-season outing of the year.
Going into the interval behind, Mark Applegarth’s side dug deep in the second 40, keeping Rovers scoreless as Eddie Battye, Max Jowitt, Renouf Atoni and Corey Hall completed the comeback as Trinity continue their preparations for the new year.
Following a calm and composed performance against Halifax in Reece Lyne’s testimonial just a few weeks ago, Trinity searched to maintain their 100% pre-season record as Featherstone Rovers visited the Be Well Support Stadium. However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Applegarth’s side, as the Flatcappers kicked on from their 28-0 victory over Hull KR last time out.
Former Trinity winger, Kyle Evans, came back to haunt his former side as he dotted down following a nice kick in the Wakefield right-hand corner before Elijah Taylor doubled the visitors’ advantage in the 22nd minute.
Wakefield continued their search for a route back into the contest, but it was the away side who nearly further added to their lead. Tom Lineham completed the length of the field to thwart Chris Hankinson after the Rovers player’s break down the left as Featherstone went into the interval with the advantage.
With Applegarth’s half-time talk still ringing in their ears, Trinity came out the blocks at the start of the second period, applying pressure to the Featherstone defence early on. With just 13 minutes on the clock, Wakefield’s second-half dominance came to pay as Battye touched down his third in as many games following lovely footwork from Mason Lino to unlock the visitors’ defence.
From there, the floodgates opened, Trinity playing like a side with the wind in their sails. Atoni gave the Trinity supporters something to cheer shortly after, scoring his first try on home soil before normal service was resumed for Hall down on the left.
Max Jowitt got in on the act late on as his nifty footwork beat the Featherstone defence, with Wakefield completing a hard-fought victory on Sunday afternoon.