Tag Archives: aiton

Leeds 44 Wakefield 40: Ben Jones-Bishop hat-trick seals win

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Leeds 44 Wakefield 40: Jones-Bishop hat-trick seals win for Rhinos in Headingley thriller

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UPDATED:

21:42 GMT, 18 June 2012

Ben Jones-Bishop grabbed a hat-trick of tries to help Leeds return to winning ways in a try feast at Headingley.

The England Knights winger was one of 10 Rhinos players backing up from international duty 48 hours earlier and the Stobart Super League champions needed all their big guns to end Wakefield's three-match winning run.

With both sides scoring seven tries, the difference was provided by the boot of Rhinos captain Kevin Sinfield, who kicked eight goals from as many attempts, including a crucial penalty on 65 minutes.

Wakefield stand-off Paul Sykes also enjoyed a 100 per cent record with the boot as he declined to attempt to convert winger Peter Fox's 79th-minute try in order to save time for an unsuccessful late victory bid.

Leeds' triumph, in a fixture held over from February because of their involvement in the World Club Challenge, was only their second in six league matches but it was enough to lift them back into the top eight at the expense of Bradford.

Hat-trick: Jones-Bishop was the hero for Leeds

Hat-trick: Jones-Bishop was the hero for Leeds

The outcome was especially sweet for England captain Jamie Peacock who made the 450th appearance of his career while 18-year-old team-mate Stevie Ward enjoyed his first Leeds win on his fifth senior appearance.

The Wildcats, who lost 38-18 at Headingley in the Challenge Cup in April, twice held the lead after causing all sorts of problems for a woeful defence.

The champions had no answer to the offloads of exciting hooker Paul Aiton and former Leeds favourite Ali Lauitiiti yet they raced into a 12-0 lead inside the opening 10 minutes.

However, both tries came against the run of play as the home side demonstrated their clinical counter-attacking ability.

Zak Hardaker, switched from centre to full-back in the absence of the injured Brent Webb, went 70 metres after collecting Paul Aiton's kick to register his 57th try in as many matches while Jones-Bishop topped that effort when he gathered Tim Smith's kick 10 metres from his own line and raced clean through the remnants of the Wakefield defence for a glorious touchdown.

The Wildcats were unfazed by the errors and Smith quickly made amends, hoisting an accurate kick for Vince Mellars to combine with Lauitiiti to get winger Ben Cockayne over and then sidestepping past Ryan Bailey to level the scores.

Wakefield were on a roll and they went in front through centre Dean Collis after a kick from full-back Richard Mathers rebounded fortuitously off the boot of defender Rob Burrow.

With neither defence showing any signs of getting their act together, Leeds levelled through second rower Jamie Jones-Buchanan following a fumble by Mathers before Lauitiiti became a tryscorer for the third successive match, taking Aiton's short ball to crash over for a popular score.

The scores were tied once more when Carl Ablett got Jones-Bishop over for his second try three minutes before half-time.

It was a similar story after the break, with Wakefield second rower Kyle Trout taking Aiton's near the line to score his first try of the season following a sustained spell of pressure on the Rhinos line.

Leeds duly equalised when second rower Weller Hauraki crashed over and they regained the lead on the hour when Jones-Bishop raced onto Sinfield's kick to complete his hat-trick.

Sinfield put two scores between the sides five minutes later with a penalty awarded for dissent and it looked to be crucial as the visitors scored again through impressive prop Oliver Wilkes.

However, Ablett powered his way through a tiring Wakefield defence for his side's seventh try six minutes from the end before Fox grabbed what proved to be a consolation effort.

Wakefield 26 Salford 22: Wildcats fast start leaves Reds with too much to do

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Wakefield 26 Salford 22: Wildcats fast start leaves Reds with too much to do

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UPDATED:

19:03 GMT, 21 April 2012

Wakefield produced a dominant
first-half performance but were forced to withstand a tremendous
fightback before claiming a first win in five games and condemning
fellow strugglers Salford to a fourth successive Stobart Super League
defeat.

The Reds won the second half 16-4
but had left themselves too much to do after an error-strewn opening in
which they simply could not handle the strong-running Wildcats forwards.

Acting captain Danny Kirmond and
front rower Oliver Wilkes were outstanding as Wakefield raced out of the
blocks, scoring two tries in the first six minutes, and they had also
two others disallowed inside the opening quarter.

Loose forward Danny Washbrook combined with stand-off Isaac John to get impressive centre Dean Collis over for the first and then took scrum-half Tim Smith's inside pass to go over himself.

As the visitors struggled to get a foothold in the contest, Wildcats hooker Paul Aiton regathered his own grubber kick only for video referee Ben Thaler to rule a knock-on and Kirmond was denied a try for a forward pass.

Prop Andy Raleigh became the fifth Wakefield player to cross the line but he was held on his back and the misses began to look costly when Salford scored a breakaway try.

Winger Ashley Gibson collected Smith's towering kick meant for Ben Cockayne 10 metres from his own line and raced upfield before sending the supporting Daniel Holdsworth over.

Holdsworth added the goal to cut the deficit to six points but Wakefield re-asserted their authority with two further tries in the last 10 minutes of the first half.

Second rower Frankie Mariano crashed over for his first try of the season and a superb one-handed pass from Collis got winger Peter Fox over for the Wildcats' fourth try.

Paul Sykes' third goal made it 22-6 at the break but Salford livened up in the second half, particularly following the introduction of back rower Chris Nero, who scored their second try after being put through a gap by Holdsworth.

Holdsworth's second goal reduced the gap to 10 points but Sykes put the home side two scores in front with a penalties on 64 and 71 minutes.

The Reds would have scored had centre Joel Moon been able to gather Holdsworth's high kick but the ball slipped through his grasp with the line beckoning, while Collis came up with crucial tackle to haul down dangerous winger Jodie Broughton.

Salford saved their best rugby for the last five minutes, with Gibson going over for two tries in two minutes, and they would have snatched an unlikely victory had second rower Matty Ashurst been able to take Moon's pass with the line open.