DARYL POWELL saw a lot to like in Wakefield Trinity’s gritty win at Bradford Bulls – even if it was a performance he “wouldn’t like to see” too often.
Wakefield scrapped their way to a 26-12 victory that was far closer than the scoreline suggested, having been nip and tuck throughout until late Josh Rourke and Harvey Smith tries made sure of a victory that elevates Powell’s side to second place in the table.
“It was a really tough game. There’s different reasons for that,” said the coach.
“We had to battle our way through a lot, particularly the amount of time we spent on our try line in the second half.
“The courage and determination to keep Bradford out was excellent. I don’t think we were ever really at our best, but Bradford were one of the reasons for that.
“The pitch is tough to play on which has an impact, and I thought Bradford were excellent.
“Our discipline at points in the second half put us under immense pressure. They had a plan to kick and challenge the ball which caused us a bit of trouble. They just generally played with a lot of grit and determination.
“We weren’t fantastic, but we had to win a game we were under a lot of pressure in.
“We just said we’d lose that last year. We’ve won another tight game and that has to be pleasing from a coach’s perspective.
“You want to see your team dig their way out of difficult situations. I felt like we made it hard for ourselves, with the way we executed in the first half.
“I wouldn’t like to see us play that way too often – I don’t think that will be good enough – but every team has those games where you don’t play at your best and you’ve just got to win, and we did that tonight.”