It was a win that moved them above their opponents (the Widnes Vikings) on the ladder, with Wakefield Wildcats coach Richard Agar pleased with his side’s effort, saying that they “did a lot of things right”.
Agar, who brought in a few players to accommodate the loss of Australian prop Justin Poore due to injury, was pleased with the efforts of his players, praising Paul Aiton and Danny Kirmond in particular.
“Paul Aiton was a constant threat from dummy half and pound for pound is a tremendous player,” the Wildcats boss said.
“If being left out of the Exiles squad gives us an extra focus, that’s good for us.
“Danny Kirmond did a terrific job on Gareth Hock, who is a devastating and destructive forward.
“Rhys Hanbury and Kevin Brown give them an enormous threat down the right side but we handled them well.
“Oliver Wilkes’ try was special and he has kept that speed hidden for a while.
“A couple of decisions went for us but we have been on the wrong end of a few this season and they level out. We will take this one.
“Widnes have an impressive home record, but we did a lot of things right.”
For Dennis Betts, the Vikings coach, he felt that there were some decisions that went against his side but admitted that his side was just not good enough to overpower the Wildcats.
“Some crucial calls went against us and it was a dubious penalty against Ben Cross which made it 28-20,” Betts said.
“But they handled our pressure really well and we weren’t smart enough. We have to learn to be tougher. The scoreline did not flatter us and I can’t fault our effort.”