Wakefield rise after stunning fightback

London Broncos 24 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 31

Wakefield staged a stunning second-half comeback to beat London Broncos and haul themselves off the bottom of the Super League at Griffin Park yesterday.

The Wildcats looked dead and buried at half-time when they were trailed 18-0, but produced a scintillating display after the break to secure the unlikely win. The London coach, Tony Rea, was not happy. "We wanted it easy, we copped a few on the chin and we got a bloody nose," he said. "I thought we lacked a little bit of spirit when it got tough and we needed to show a bit more fight."

The Broncos got off to a flying start when captain Jason Hetherington crossed after only 72 seconds, with Tony Martin soon adding a penalty to make up for missing the goal attempt. The home-side moved further ahead on 22 minutes when Dennis Moran collected Jim Dymock's pass to score his 13th try of the season, which Martin converted.

Russell Bawden caught the Wakefield defence asleep to cross from dummy-half on 30 minutes, with Martin's goal looking to have set his side well on the way to victory with an 18-0 lead at the interval.

However, Wakefield began the fight-back on 47 minutes when Martin Morana raced in from 18 metres after intercepting Hetherington's pass. Ian Knott added the goal.

David March then spotted a gap in the Broncos defence before setting up Brad Davis to cross. Knott made good the try. And the visitors were level on 56 minutes when the substitute Chris Feather held off Matt Toshack to cross from close range. Knott was again on target with the goal.

Wakefield, remarkably, were ahead two minutes later through Davis' brilliant 40-yard drop goal. The lead did not last long, however, as Toshack went over with 12 minutes left and Martin converted. But Wakefield were not to be denied and on 72 minutes, Julien Rinaldi crashed over, before Knott again converted.

Martyn Holland made the game safe with a last-minute solo try as Knott booted his fifth goal to cap a fantastic Wakefield effort. "I wanted heart and passion from the players at half-time and they certainly showed that," said Wakefield's caretaker-coach Shane McNally.

London Broncos: Sykes; Hall, Roy, Martin, Peters; Gillett, Moran; Marshall, Hetherington, Stephenson, Retchless, Toshack, Dymock. Substitutes used: Budworth, Bawden, Shaw, Jackson.

Wakefield Trinty Wildcats: Holland; Sovatabua, Tassell, Bird, Frew; Moana, Davis; Broadbent, March, Jackson, Slattery, Field, Knott. Substitutes used: Feather, Handforth, Keating, Rinaldi.

Referee: S Ganson (St Helens).