Wakefield Trinity v Saints

Saints kept alive their top four hopes with a dramatic last gasp win over Wakefield.

Trailing 16-12 with just two minutes remaining Jonny Lomax pounced on a bouncing Mark Percival kick to snatch the win.

Saints had toiled against Trinity’s ruthless defence all night but a final moment of magic sealed a much needed victory.

Percival, who kicked the winning conversion, chipped ahead with seconds remaining to put Scott Grix under pressure.

But the fullback failed to deal with the ball with Regan Grace in attendance and Lomax touched down.

The game had been on a knife-edge throughout with Trinity shading it through the boot of Liam Finn.

He kicked four from six but it was his sixth effort, hitting the post, that handed Saints a lifeline.

The first half saw Wakefield lead 12-6 even though Saints had had most of the possession.

And their opener in the 11th minute was a simple one.

Following a break down the middle, Saints failed to deal with a innocuous kick on the last.

Grix putting it on a plate for Bill Tupou to put down under pressure.

Wakefield then extended their lead to six when Luke Thompson was penalised for a late push in front of the sticks.

But Just Holbrook’s men hit back through the genius of Danny Richardson.

He put in a fine 40:20 under pressure and then hit LMS on a great line to go under the posts.

Percival making it all square.

Saints came again and after Ben Barba split the defence to earn his side another set, Theo Fages almost put James Roby over.

Seconds later, the new signing chipped for Richardson to chase only for Wakefield to mop up and go the length of the field through Tupou.

Finn making it 12-6 at the break.

Wakefield were down to 12 men early in the second half as Dean Hadley was sent to the bin for a crusher tackle on Mark Percival.

But Saints couldn’t take advantage and their hosts extended the lead to eight points through Finn’s trusty boot.

Wakefield’s half backs then took control and it took until the hour mark for Saints to make any inroads into the their opponent’s 40.

But they made it count.

Alex Walmsley went close and on the very next set fired out a fine pass for Fages to scorch over.

Percival goaled but Finn then kicked his fourth two-pointer of the evening to take it out to 16-12.

Saints needed to create to pressure in Wakefield’s half but it looked a harder task when Trinity were awarded a penalty to the left of the sticks with a few minutes remaining.

But Finn’s penalty hit the upright, Saints went down the other end of the field and Percival produced his magic.

Saints gathered the restart but after playing out their set, Wakefield still had 25 seconds left to produce something spellbinding.

But Zeb Taia put Ben Jones-Bishop in touch to seal the victory.

Match Summary:

Trinity:
Tries: Tupou (2)
Goals: Finn (4 from 6)

Saints:
Tries: McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Fages, Lomax
Goals: Percival (3 from 3)

Penalties Awarded:
Trinity: 7
Saints: 4

HT: 12-6
FT: 16-18

REF: Ben Thaler

ATT: 4,847

Teams:

Trinity:
1. Scott Grix; 5. Ben Jones-Bishop, 4. Reece Lyne, 18. Joe Arundel, 3. Bill Tupou; 6. Jacob Miller, 7. Liam Finn; 8. Anthony England, 35. Tyler Randell, 23. Keegan Hirst, 12. Danny Kirmond, 11. Matty Ashurst, 16. Tinirau Arona.
Subs: 17. Craig Huby, 20. David Fifita, 26. Chris Annakin, 32. Dean Hadley.

Saints:
37. Ben Barba; 2. Tommy Makinson, 1. Jonny Lomax, 4. Mark Percival, 28. Regan Grace; 6. Theo Fages, 24. Danny Richardson; 14. Luke Douglas, 9. James Roby, 16. Luke Thompson, 36. Zeb Taia, 20. Morgan Knowles, 12. Jon Wilkin.
Subs: 8. Alex Walmsley, 13. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, 18. Dominique Peyroux, 32. Matty Lees.