Wakefield Wildcats beat Catalans Dragons 25-24 on Magic Weekend
By Andy Charles
Last Updated: 22/05/16 9:30pm
A sensational drop goal from Jacob Miller earned Wakefield Wildcats a dramatic 25-24 win over Catalans Dragons in the opening game of Sunday's Super League Magic Weekend programme.
Jodie Broughton scored twice for the Dragons and Ben Jones-Bishop replied with a pair of tries for the Wildcats but it was the wayward kicking of the normally reliable Pat Richards that would prove costly for the French side.
The Wildcats had to come back from conceding the first three tries of the afternoon at St James' Park, where the Dragons were looking for a win that would have taken them above Warrington at the top of the table.
Neither side was able to break through until near the end of the first quarter when Justin Horo kicked off a spell of Dragons dominance with a 16th-minute try by smashing through the Wildcats' defensive line.
By the time the half-hour mark arrived Catalans had scored two more tries, both with plenty of help from their shell-shocked opponents.
First a high tackle by Danny Kirmond handed them good field position and Broughton slid over in the corner to make it 8-0.
And that became 14-0 moments later when Tony Gigot made the most of some hesitant defending to touch down a grubber Wakefield thought was going out of play - Richards converting after missing his first two attempts at goal.
Wakefield finally responded as time clicked down on the first half, Jones-Bishop crossing for his first try by running in just about untouched from halfway after the Dragons had turned the ball over.
Jones-Bishop cut the deficit to two points with his second try after the interval after some fine handling from centre Joe Arundel.
Wakefield's first comeback was completed when Mikey Sio took a pass from Miller to score a third try, all of them converted by Liam Finn.
The Dragons response was quick, though, with Gigot and Glenn Stewart combining well to set up Vincent Duport for a try that Richards was able to convert to give them a 20-18 advantage.
Five minutes later Broughton scored his second to make it a six-point Dragons lead, Todd Carney again the provider as the winger powered home in the corner.
Richards' third missed conversion, from way out wide, kept Wakefield within a try and they levelled the score at 24-24 when Mickael Simon took three Dragons tacklers over the line with him to score.
A 75th minute penalty on Simon for ripping the ball away in a two-man tackle gave Richards the chance to put the Dragons in front but his kick hit the post.
And seconds after that miss Miller hit a dramatic drop goal from the halfway line to put Wakefield a point in front and eventually secure them a third successive victory.
