Crusaders claim comeback win

Witt: Influential display

Crusaders produced a dominant second-half display to come from behind and grab a 23-10 victory over Wakefield at the Racecourse Ground.

The Wildcats had raced into a 10-0 lead after a brace of tries from Dale Morton but the hosts ran in four tries of their own following the half-time break.

Michael Witt, Vince Mellars, Ryan O'Hara and Rhys Hanbury all went over for the Welsh side, who are now four points adrift of Wakefield at the foot of the Engage Super League table.

Crusaders were handed a pre-match boost as second row Hep Cahill was cleared to play despite his dismissal in the Carnegie Challenge Cup defeat to Leeds last Saturday.

But it was Wakefield who made a flying start when winger Morton scored the opening try of the evening, seconds after Crusaders stand-off Kieran Hyde had tripped over when looking to run in an intercept score for the hosts.

Spill

And Morton crossed for his second after another error, full-back Clinton Schifcofske spilling a kick to the corner to allow the youngster in.

But Crusaders managed to claw their way back into the contest after the early mistakes, with Wakefield's intensity ebbing away.

Their first chance of the match came when Witt put up a dangerous cross-field ball on the last tackle and later the stand-off almost touched down but the Wildcats held firm on their try-line.

Wakefield went into half-time with the 10-point lead intact but Witt eventually made the breakthrough for Crusaders four minutes after the break.

Jordan Tansey darted through the middle before sending the Australian clear 20 metres out to score under the posts.

Schifcofske's conversion cut the deficit to four points and the game appeared to be swinging towards Crusaders.

Tries

And the home side levelled the scores when centre Mellars crossed for an unconverted try in the left-hand corner.

There was almost a quick response at the other end but the try was ruled out for a forward pass, while Hyde nearly went over under the posts only to be denied by some last-ditch defending.

Crusaders took the lead for the first time with 12 minutes left as Witt slotted a drop-goal through the posts to the delight of the home crowd.

There was not much to choose between the sides as Wakefield looked to get back in front, but handling errors let them down.

And in the closing stages, O'Hara and Hanbury both crossed for converted tries to secure the points for the Welsh side.