Wakefield beat Huddersfield to move off bottom of Super League
Last Updated: 25/03/16 7:53pm
Tom Johnstone scored two tries as Wakefield handed new coach Chris Chester an early Easter present by climbing off of the bottom of the Super League table with a 36-22 victory over fellow strugglers Huddersfield.
The success, in Chester's first home game in charge, was only the Wildcats' second win in eight matches this season and saw them leapfrog the Giants and Hull KR, who lost to local rivals Hull FC earlier in the day.
It also brought to an end a run of six straight defeats to their Yorkshire neighbours, dating back to July 22, 2012.
Johnstone, Mikey Sio and Reece Lyne all crossed in the first half for Trinity, who led 18-14 at the break.
Max Jowitt, a long effort from Johnstone and Nick Scruton added further scores for the home side after the restart, while Liam Finn's 100 per cent kicking added six goals.
The Giants replied through two Jermaine McGillvary, Jake Connor (two) and Aaron Murphy but it was not enough, despite pulling the scores level at 18-18 early in the second half.
With just one win in six games, the Giants, who have regularly challenged for honours in recent seasons, are now plunged back to the foot of the table.
Huddersfield handed an immediate debut to Ryan Brierley after his high-profile move from Championship pacemakers Leigh, while Jared Simpson and Craig Huby made their first starts of the season in place of Wakefield loanee Jordan Tansey, who was unable to play against his parent club, and the suspended Joe Wardle.
Trinity, with skipper Danny Kirmond back after missing five games with a neck injury and hooker Scott Moore playing his first game since Boxing Day, fell behind to McGillvary's fifth try of the season.
Brierley was integrally involved with Leroy Cudjoe as in-form winger McGillvary extended his scoring run to four successive games with Danny Brough landing the first of his three goals.
Trinity hit back when Johnstone scored in the corner from a well-flighted long pass from Max Jowitt.
Then a Jacob Miller kick bounced out of Brough's grasp under the posts and Sio pounced to put the Wildcats in front.
The hosts extended their advantage after Simpson hesitated chasing a Stuart Howarth kick, only for Reece Lyne to race in to touch down in the corner.
Finn's precision kicking, adding the extras to each score, gave Trinity an 18-6 lead.
But just before the break Connor got a try back for Huddersfield after bursting onto a short Brough pass and just seconds later McGillvary almost ran the length of the field only to be pulled up short by a superb Jowitt chase and tackle.
Brough narrowed the gap to four points with the final kick of the half after Trinity were penalised for a high shot.
Connor then reached out of some feeble tackling to tie the scores but Jowitt nudged the hosts back ahead with a determined diagonal run across the whitewash on the hour.
The customary Easter derby fracas resulted in both sides being reduced to 12, with Mikael Simon and Larne Patrick earning 10 minutes in the sin-bin for their parts.
Brough was first to exploit the extra space by launching a 20-metre pass which sent Murphy over in the corner but the usually sure-footed half-back just pulled his conversion wide to leave the Wildcats still two points in front.
But Johnstone all sealed the victory with a spectacular 90-metre breakaway try after collecting a loose ball deep in his own half and busting several tackles before leaving the chasing Giants in his wake, and Nick iced the cake for Trinity with another try two minutes from time.
