Wakefield hold off Dragons to regain second place
Isaiah Vagana scored twice inside five minutes to ease Wakefield clear of their hosts [Getty Images]Betfred Super LeagueCatalans (6) 12Tries: Sexton, Laguerre Goals: Aispuro-Bichet 2Wakefield (10) 32Tries: Trueman, Scott 2, Hamlin-Uele, Vagana 2 Goals: Sinfield 4Isaiah Vagana's quickfire double enabled Wakefield Trinity to shake off a dogged Catalans side and reclaim second place in the table with a seventh straight Super League victory.Wakefield squandered opportunities and were clinging to an uncertain 16-12 lead in Perpignan before Vagana crossed the line twice in the space of five minutes to snuff out the Dragons' hopes.Early Jake Trueman and Cameron Scott tries put Trinity in command before Catalans' Toby Sexton responded, while Caleb Hamlin-Uele and Matthieu Laguerre traded scores to keep the contest in the balance going into the final quarter.But Vagana's double gave Wakefield breathing space and Scott then sealed victory for Daryl Powell's side with his second try of the night, a stunning solo run.Jake Trueman (C) opened the scoring for Wakefield before setting up Cameron Scott's first try of the night [Getty Images]The visitors dominated the early stages, moving the ball quickly and drawing first blood when Tyson Smoothy found Trueman, whose dummy left him with work still to do, but he touched down at full stretch.Trueman then turned provider, picking out Scott with a pinpoint pass and he darted through to extend Trinity's advantage to 10 points, despite Jack Sinfield missing what looked a routine conversion.Wakefield should have added further scores, with Josh Rourke having two tries ruled out for knock-ons and the Dragons were restricted to no more than hopeful, ineffective punts from deep in the first 25 minutes.But the home side scored with their first meaningful attack as Sexton exchanged passes with Lewis Dodd to force his way over and they might even have snatched the lead after Jayden Myers' fumble invited a spell of pressure.Although Clement Martin's effort was chalked off by video referee James Vella following a knock-on, Catalans' tenacious defending in the vicinity of their goal-line kept them in the contest as they turned around just four behind.Hamlin-Uele grabbed Wakefield's third try after the interval, leaping through a gap from close range after a storming Myers run propelled them upfield and Vagana had done the heavy lifting.However, Catalans were back on their tails straight away as Laguerre collected Dodd's pass and swivelled under pressure on the line with Vella overturning referee Aaron Moore's call of no try.Vagana, denied a certain score by Martin's last-minute intervention, soon made amends as he latched onto Sinfield's short ball and then pounced for his second after Tommy Makinson spilled Trueman's kick.Scott added his name to the scoresheet once more, with Myers releasing him to race clear from inside his own half and Catalans' night ended on a sour note when Ugo Tison's foul on Sinfield earned him a late visit to the sin-bin.Catalans: Staines, Cotric, Martin, Aispuro-Bichet, Makinson, Sexton, Dodd, Allen, Tison, Maria, Laguerre, Lipowicz, Garcia.Interchanges: Bousquet, Condon, Leeming, Lis.Sin-bin: Tison (79)Wakefield: Rourke, Myers, Scott, Hall, Johnstone, Trueman, Sinfield, Rodwell, Smoothy, Vagana, Lolesio, Storton, Pitts.Interchanges: Tevaga, Hamlin-Uele, Faatili, Smith.Referee: Aaron Moore.