Wakefield (12) 30
Tries: Gleeson, Martin, Blanch, Atkins, Murphy Goals: Martin 4, Brough

Catalans Dragons (10) 10
Tries: Baile, Pelo Goals: Bosc

Martin finished with 12 points

Wakefield moved up to fourth in the Super League table by sending Catalans spinning to their fourth defeat of the season with an easy win at Belle Vue.

Former Melbourne Storm centre Tony Martin scored a try and four goals as the hosts pulled away after the break.

The Dragons, boosted by Greg Bird, had held their own early on with tries from Dimitri Pelo and Jean-Philippe Baile.

But second-half scores from Damien Blanch, Ryan Atkins and Aaron Murphy pushed the Wildcats into the top four.

Bird made a 24-000-mile journey to play in the game.

The 25-year-old former Cronulla player was forced to return home to Sydney last Thursday to attend a court hearing into an alleged assault and was not expected back for the match.

But he managed to get an earlier flight and arrived in England yesterday, in time to meet up with his new Dragons team-mates ahead of their game against Wakefield at Belle Vue.

The controversial Australian, who made his Super League debut in the 24-22 home defeat by Castleford last Saturday, was once more introduced off the bench by coach Kevin Walters but was unable to inspire the Perpignan team.

Wakefield coach John Kear:
"I was very happy with the performance over 80 minutes. One thing you've got to do with Catalans is keep working away because they just won't go away.

"We said that at half-time and I was delighted with the second-half performance, especially defensively. We were outstanding.

"You've got to grind out a win sometimes. You can't always win with pretty stuff - we're not Leeds!

"Sometimes you've just got to roll your sleeves up and do some hard work and that's exactly what they did."

Catalans coach Kevin Walters:
"It was very disappointing.

"We're the victims of our own circumstances, our own discipline's not there.

"If we continue to do that we won't win any game. Wakefield were good but we knew they were going to be good.

"We just weren't up to the mark. We'll try and get it right next week."

Wakefield: Blaymire, Blanch, Gleeson, Atkins, Murphy, Martin, Brough, Wilkes, Leo-Latu, Bibey, Snitch, Ferguson, Demetriou, Sculthorpe.Replacements: Bibb, Henderson, Sculthorpe, Pitts.

Catalans Dragons: Greenshields, Stacul, Mogg, Bell, Pelo, Bosc, Perry, Ferriol, McGuire, Elima, Gossard, Mounis, Fakir. Replacements: Guisset, Casty, Bird, Baile.

Referee: J Child (RFL).

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version