Crusaders (0) 0
Wakefield (19) 41
Tries: Jeffries, Millard, Demetriou, Leaeno, Johnson, Blanch 2
Goals: Cooke 6 Drop Goal: Cooke

Kear only revealed on Wednesday that he is to stay put at Wakefield

Crusaders were brought down to earth after their euphoric win at Leeds as they crashed to a 41-0 home defeat against struggling Wakefield.

The visitors had won once in 10 games but responded better than Brian Noble's men to a two-hour delay caused by their coach being held up on the M62.

John Kear's side caught Crusaders cold with two tries in the first 11 minutes from Ben Jeffries and Daryl Millard.

And the Wildcats ran in five more, Paul Cooke adding 13 points with the boot.

The late kick-off (2000 BST), due to a traffic incident on the M62 which badly held up the visitors' team bus, was the second time the game had been rescheduled.

Originally down for a 1500 BST kick-off, it was put back three hours to allow fans to watch England's World Cup game against Germany.

Crusaders coach Brian Noble had, ironically, been in favour of a lunchtime start at 1430 BST. And, as it turned out, it would have been better for the match to have started earlier after a major afternoon delay, caused by an incident on the motorway around the Huddersfield area.

Admittedly, Noble's in-form side were without Gareth Thomas (groin) and Michael Witt, whose knee injury looks likely to end his season, and Jarrod Sammut was also absent with a fractured cheekbone.

But another telling factor was that this was Wakefield's first game since Wildcats coach Kear snubbed a move to Catalans earlier in the week.

Quite apart from going into the game on the back of last weekend's stunning 32-26 win at Super League champions Leeds, Crusaders had beaten Wakefield in their last meeting, 20-10 at Belle Vue in April

But, in front of a poor, sub-3,00 crowd in Wrexham, it rapidly became clear that there would be only one winners of this one.

The visitors almost scored inside the first three minutes and made the most of their next chance when scrum-half Jefferies went past the cover on the right to score, half-back partner Cooke converting from the touchline.

It turned into another of Crusaders' bad starts when Wildcats centre Millard evaded the defence to cross near the posts on 11 minutes.

The Crusaders came close to opening their account when centre Jason Chan was tackled just a yard short but it was the intensity of a wide-awake Trinity that was the difference.

They looked threatening each time they were in the home half, Cooke increasing their lead with a drop-goal before loose forward Jason Demetriou found a gap in the home midfield and just stretched far enough to ground the ball.

And it got better when prop Charlie Leaeno drove through for a well-worked try two minutes into the second half.

Wakefield never let the Crusaders off the leash, adding neat tries from Paul Johnson and a brace for winger Damien Blanch.

Crusaders coach Brian Noble said:

"There is an element of 'after the Lord Mayor's Show' with this team. We have played well and then not backed it up.

"We were a completely different team to watch than in the last couple of weeks and that is the frustrating part for us.

"Tonight, we could have played for another hour and not broken their line, but I know it is fixable."

Wakefield coach John Kear said:

"I have to applaud the players who turned in a very good performance.

"When you play Leeds at Headingley, it drains you emotionally and we sensed we might catch Crusaders after that. We analysed them and took advantage of that emotional drainage.

"The points on the league ladder are very important at this time of year. Castleford beat Bradford and that brings them into the mix. It is very interesting for seventh and eighth spot."

Crusaders: Schifcofske, Dyer, Martin, Chan, Youngquest, Lupton, Hanbury, O'Hara, Withers, Bryant, Winternstein, Hauraki, Trimarchi.
Replacements: James, Peek, Flower, White.

Wakefield: Blaymire, Blanch, Murphy, Millard, Morton, Cooke, Jeffries, Moore, Obst, Leaeno, Kirmond, Morrison, Demetriou.
Replacements: King, Johnson, Korkidas, Rinaldi.

Referee: Richard Silverwood (Dewsbury).

Attendance: 2,837.

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