Jacob Miller dedicates Wakefield’s win to coach Chris Chester
Wakefield captain Jacob Miller dedicated his team’s 18-14 win over Huddersfield to coach Chris Chester.
Winger Tom Johnstone’s second try of the match six minutes from the end helped Trinity to their first win since March and lifted the pressure on their coach, who was forced to answer allegations of a dressing room revolt in the build-up to the game.
READ: Huddersfield 14-18 Wakefield: Tom Johnstone at the double for Trinity
“It was a bit of motivation if anything and it was nice to get the win.
“I’ve got no idea where the reports came from, I can almost guarantee it was not from within the club at the moment.
“It was just nice to get the win for the club and for Chez. It will be nice to finish off the year well and put in a good year next year for him.”
Chester admitted he had been hurt by the newspaper report and was delighted with the response from his players.
“It kind of galvanised us,” Chester said. “I knew those comments hadn’t come from within the dressing room.
“Some of them were quite personal and, when your family read comments like that, it makes you think ‘is all this kind of worth it?’
“I couldn’t be more proud of how we’ve all stuck together and they got the rewards tonight.
“It showed a team that had some pride in the badge and pride in the coach, I thought that was evident from the start of the game.
“They responded really well. The guys showed they care about the club. It’s been a long time between drinks and I couldn’t be more proud of the players than I am tonight.”
Trinity were heading for an 11th successive defeat until Johnstone pounced on a handling error by Huddersfield winger Sam Wood to snatch the spoils.
“We had a never-say-die attitude towards the back end,” Chester added. “I thought we were worthy winners.
“We know we’ve still a lot to work on, one result doesn’t make a season, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction, it gives us something to work with.
“It was a good performance and that needs to be a benchmark now.”
With both sides scoring three tries, the result came down to the goal kicking of Ryan Hampshire, who kicked all three conversions, compared to just one from three by Huddersfield’s Lee Gaskell.
A third successive defeat under caretaker coach Luke Robinson effectively ends the Giants’ lingering play-off hopes.
Robinson said: “There’s been that many narrow losses, it’s a little bit like a mental block for us more than anything else.
“Whenever we go into a pressure situation, I can see the doubt in their faces.
“When the heat is on we’ve got to find a way of staying composed and calm.
“We just don’t know how to build any pressure both defensively and with the ball.
“We put ourselves under too much pressure with too many dropped balls and they showed a little bit more desperation than us.”
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