WAKEFIELD TRINITY 28 HULL KR 12
CALLUM WALKER, DIY Kitchens Stadium, Saturday

YOU would have been forgiven for thinking it was Wakefield top of the Super League pile as Daryl Powell’s side emphatically brushed aside a lacklustre Hull KR in one of the shocks of the season.

Rovers still have the chance to clinch the League Leaders’ Shield against Warrington next week, but they will have to improve drastically as Willie Peters’ men looked void of ideas and composure.

Wakefield, meanwhile, looked a completely different side to the one that fell to Castleford and they strengthened their grip on the final play-off place with one game remaining.

Max Jowitt, who was tremendous throughout, replaced Josh Rourke at fullback whilst Ky Rodwell played his first game for Trinity in five months.

Oliver Gildart returned for Rovers, four months after sustaining a knee injury, but the visitors were hampered by a late change as Jack Brown replaced Kelepi Tanginoa whilst Joe Burgess remained out.

It took Wakefield just four minutes to register the first points, a Mason Lino kick causing havoc in the visitors’ defence as Jayden Myers batted the ball back into Jake Trueman’s gleeful hands. Jowitt converted for a 6-0 lead.

Trinity looked really in the mood and after Jowitt broke through the centre in the next set, Rovers were found offside so Jowitt added another two to make it 8-0.

And it was a moment of brilliance that extended Wakefield’s lead to 14 points. Lino, receiving the ball 20 metres out, dummied and stepped his way through starry-eyed KR defenders to send three-quarters of the DIY Kitchens Stadium into raptures. Jowitt improved.

The momentum didn’t lull there, either, and after Myers was taken out in the air, Trinity forced a drop-out. From that, Wakefield shifted the ball right and Mikey Lewis’ attempted interception fell into the arms of Jowitt who skipped under the posts. The fullback converted himself for a remarkable 20-0 lead with half an hour gone.

Daryl Powell’s men were utterly breathtaking at times and Jowitt was on fire with his stunning dummy, break and offload to Cam Scott seeing Wakefield go in again to rack up a shock 26-0 half-time deficit.

It took Rovers just four minutes to click in the second-half, though, Arthur Mourgue taking an inside pass from Lewis before skipping round Jowitt for a scintillating score. The Frenchman converted to bring KR back to 26-6.

Trinity lost their Captain’s Challenge moments later for a knock-on before Rovers lost theirs in exactly the same fashion minutes after.

A period of parity ensued, but there was no way Wakefield were about to let their mammoth lead be cut any further. Instead, a Jowitt penalty goal just after the hour for a ball steal made it 28-6 with 17 minutes to go.

Try as they might, Rovers threw everything – including the entire kitchen never mind just the sink – at the hosts, and they added a second when Lewis’ grubber was grounded expertly by Gildart. Mourgue’s conversion reduced the deficit to 16 at 28-12.

But that was as good as it got for the visitors as Trinity made no mistake of victory with steely defence in their best performance of the campaign.

GAMESTAR: Max Jowitt justified his selection return with an accomplished display.

GAMEBREAKER: Cam Scott’s try with three minutes to go in the first-half practically sealed victory.

HIGHLIGHT REEL: Max Jowitt breaking through the middle and sending Cam Scott on his way was pretty special.

ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Max Jowitt (Wakefield)
2 pts Mason Lino (Wakefield)
1 pt Matty Storton (Wakefield)

TRINITY
1 Max Jowitt
30 Jayden Myers
3 Cam Scott
19 Oliver Pratt
5 Tom Johnstone
6 Jake Trueman
20 Mason Lino
8 Mike McMeeken
9 Liam Hood
31 Caius Faatili
11 Seth Nikotemo
17 Matty Storton
13 Jay Pitts
Subs (all used)
10 Ky Rodwell
12 Josh Griffin
16 Renouf Atoni
28 Harvey Smith
18th man (not used)
21 Mathieu Cozza
Also in 21-man squad
23 Josh Rourke
25 Jack Croft
33 Noah High

Tries: Trueman (4), Lino (19), Jowitt (28), Scott (37)
Goals: Jowitt 6/6

HULL KR
35 Arthur Mourgue
2 Tom Davies
3 Peta Hiku
4 Oliver Gildart
18 Jack Broadbent
6 Mikey Lewis
7 Tyrone May
16 Jai Whitbread
9 Jez Litten
10 Jared Waerea-Hargreaves
11 Dean Hadley
12 James Batchelor
13 Elliot Minchella
Subs (all used)
15 Sam Luckley
21 Jack Brown
24 Eribe Doro
25 Bill Leyland
18th man (not used)
20 Kelepi Tanginoa
Also in 21-man squad
5 Joe Burgess
8 Sauaso Sue
36 Noah Booth

Tries: Mourgue (44), Gildart (71)
Goals: Mourgue 2/2

SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 8-0, 14-0, 20-0, 26-0; 26-6, 28-6, 28-12

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Trinity: Max Jowitt; Hull KR: Tom Davies

Penalty count: 5-5
Half-time: 26-0
Referee: Chris Kendall
Attendance: 9,258