Game

Monday 13 Apr 2009

Kick Off 15:30

REPORT

Wakefield Wildcats recorded their second West Yorkshire derby triumph of the Easter weekend as they edged a full-blooded engage Super League affair against Bradford Bulls at Belle Vue.

Veteran Australian Steve Menzies scored a brace of tries for the visitors in the first half but Damien Blanch, Danny Brough and Ryan Atkins ensured the hosts took an 18-10 lead into the interval.

The Bulls outscored Wakefield two tries to one after the break with Michael Platt’s late effort setting up a thrilling finish, but the Wildcats held on for the win.

Wakefield welcomed back Richard Moore to the squad for the first time since August after he was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease earlier in the year, while the Bulls had former Wakefield player David Solomona back after a shoulder injury.

The opening score came in the seventh minute. Bradford prop Craig Kopczak sliced through the Wildcats defence and, although Matt Blaymire did well to haul him down as he advanced towards the line, a quick play saw the ball worked wide and Andy Lynch produced a well-timed pass to send second row Menzies over in the corner.
 
The home side responded three minutes later, however, when fast hands and a long pass from skipper Jason Demetriou left Blanch with the simple task of crossing the whitewash, and the Wildcats edged ahead when Brough slotted over the resulting conversion.

Some tough tackling from Wakefield coupled with a series of handling errors meant the Bulls failed to get into any sort of rhythm.

But in the 22nd minute they forced ahead again. A high, hanging kick towards the corner was collected by Menzies, who rose above the defence and touched down before Sykes added the extras to leave the score at 10-6.

Wakefield crossed the whitewash again in the 32nd minute when scrum-half Brough scooped the ball from the turf after some loose Bradford passing.

Still with plenty to do, he outpaced Rikki Sheriffe and dived over in the corner to put the finishing touches to an angled run which saw him cover half the length of the field.

Brough then had the audacity to slot over the resulting conversion from the touchline at the end housing the travelling contingent of Bradford supporters.

Three minutes before the break, Atkins picked the ball up and accelerated towards the line and after shrugging off the challenges of Worrincy and Dave Halley he touched down. Brough was again on target with his conversion.

The second half began in similar fashion to the first with neither side able to make any real breaks.

Referee Richard Silverwood played a more prominent role after the break and the game was in danger of becoming a stop-start affair.

Handling errors cost Wakefield on more than one occasion as they went about examining the Bulls defence, while ill-discipline on the visitors’ part meant the home side were camped in the Bradford half for long periods.

The first try of the second period arrived in the 53rd minute following a sustained period of possession for the Wildcats, second row Steve Snitch bulldozing his way forward to touch down.

Worrincy pulled one back for the Bulls when he forced his way over with a number of Wakefield defenders still hanging onto him in the 57th minute.

Full-back Platt crossed five minutes from time, with Sykes converting to set up a nervy finish, but the Wildcats held on for a second successive victory following Friday’s 35-6 triumph over Castleford Tigers at The Jungle.

POST-MATCH COMMENTS

Wakefield coach John Kear saw room for improvement despite watching his side chalk up a second win of the Easter weekend.

Kear said: "It was tremendous, great entertainment for the crowd. I thought it was a good standard of game to say it was the second one in a few days."

"Obviously it was very exciting so I think everybody can go away - especially with Wakefield colours - and feel pretty happy with what's happened today and what has happened over the weekend."

"It's been a pretty good weekend for us."

However, the Wildcats boss conceded there were lessons to be learned from the way his side allowed the Bulls to get back within striking distance.

"I'm just settling down after that," he said. "We did invite Bradford back into the game but we've come out on the right side of the scoreboard and that's all that matters."

"I'm not angry, I'm frustrated. Perhaps one of our young lads made an error but you have to learn."

"You have to learn to play with composure. You're hot and you're tired. You've played two games in four days and you've got to play with composure and I was frustrated as well with the way we let them off too easily when we had good ball."

"There's obviously areas for us to improve but we've come out on the right side of the scoreboard."

Bradford Head Coach Steve McNamara was left to rue the number of mistakes his side made after their morale-boosting victory over Leeds at the start of the Easter weekend.

The Bulls boss said: "It is criminal the amount or errors we made and I'm just looking at the times we made them and they were consistent throughout the second half."

"If you're playing your second game in a short space of time, possession and position is key - and we lost in that department, there is not doubt about it."

He added: "We were as dumb as I've seen us play in a long time. We weren't very smart with the ball."

"(But) we showed that in the back end we were a kick away from snatching the game at the death and if we'd have shown more patience early in the game we'd have given ourselves more of an opportunity to go on and win."

"I'm disappointed that we've not come out and performed well enough to get the two points and I thought we should have done."