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Wakefield (10) 22 Tries: Johnson, Wildie, Mariano, McCarthy Goals: Veivers 3 Catalan Dragons (20) 42 Tries: Vaccari 2, Blanch 2, Baile, Greenshields, Sa, Mounis Goals: Dureau 5
Catalan Dragons ran in eight tries in their 42-22 victory at Wakefield. After Greg Johnson went over to give the hosts an early lead, Catalans hit back with four unanswered tries. Frederic Vaccari (2), Jean-Philippe Baile and Damien Blanch made it 20-4, before Matthew Wildie's try narrowed the deficit to 10 points at half-time. Blanch, Clint Greenshields, Setaimata Sa and Gregory Mounis scored second-half tries for Catlans, Frankie Mariano and Tyrone McCarthy for Wakefield. After putting together a seven-match unbeaten run, the Dragons had lost their last two games against Huddersfield and Leeds. And it looked bad for the French side when early errors handed Wakefield a fourth-minute lead. After scrum-half Scott Dureau had booted the ball straight out from the kick-off, to apply unnecessary pressure to themselves, Baile then dropped the ball to allow Johnson to cross.
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That's one of our worst performances all season
Wakefield coach John Kear
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But fit-again Greenshields helped bring the Dragons level when he found a gap in the home side's defence to send Vaccari over, Dureau kicking the extras. Baile made up for his earlier error to bulldoze over after a fluid passing move on the right-hand side. Wakefield old boy Blanch then scored under the posts, converted by Dureau, before Vaccari registered his second. Wakefield gave themseves a chance three minutes before the break when captain Glenn Morrison and Aaron Murphy stretched the Catalan defence to free Wildie to score, Josh Veivers proving successful with his kick. But the Catalans stretched their 20-10 half-time lead four minutes after the interval when Blanch scored his second try, despite a suspicious-looking forward pass from Baile. Wakefield quickly reduced the deficit back to 10 points again when Mariano latched onto Tommy Lee's bullet pass, Veivers with the conversation. But tries from Greenshields and Sa, both converted by Dureau put the game out of the home side's reach. Wakefield refused to give up, McCarthy profited from a loose ball to touch down, with Veivers kicking his third successful goal, but Mounis went over two minutes later to earn the visitors a 20-point victory.
Wakefield coach John Kear: "That's one of our worst performances all season. "The things that we've been renowned for doing earlier in the season - where we showed attitude and a real commitment to defence - weren't there today. "That's the poorest we've been with regard to our commitment to the 80 minutes. "We just gifted them possession, we also gave some soft penalties away, which gifted them field position." Catalan Dragons coach Trent Robinson: "We showed some really nice attacking footie at different times, but our composure wasn't as good as it could have been. "That's still something we're working on, which does take a fair bit to get there. "We definitely strayed from our collective goal as a team at at different times. But, when we executed it, I thought we looked pretty good."
Wakefield: Veivers; Morton, Dean, Murphy, G Johnson; Lee, Wildie; Korkidas, Davey, P Johnson, Morrison, Henderson, Howarth. Replacements: Higgins, Amor, Mariano, McCarthy. Catalan Dragons: Greenshields; Blanch, Baile, Millard, Vaccari; Sa, Dureau; Ferriol, Henderson, Fakir, Paea, Raguin, Mounis. Replacements: Simon, Martins, Baitieri, Pelissier. Attendance: 4,561. Referee: Tim Roby (RFL).
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