Cooke inspires Wakefield comeback

Paul Cooke
12 April 2012

Paul Cooke haunted his former side once again although this time in Wakefield colours rather than Hull KR, as Hull's hopes of tightening their grip on fourth place suffered a blow with a 29-6 defeat.

Cooke, who switched the Black and Whites for arch-rivals Hull KR after 10 years, continued to decrease his popularity with his former employers by dragging the Wildcats back from an early deficit by scoring a try and then making another as well as kicking four goals.

Short of Jordan Turner's opener, Hull did little to suggest they had come into the game knowing a win would put them three points clear of fifth-placed Leeds.

Both sides had early opportunities to score, most notably Hull who saw Danny Tickle shell the ball close to the line after a slick move, but the forward was able to make amends as he set up the opening try after 10 minutes. He rose above Darryl Millard to collect Shaun Berrigan's kick and batted back to Jordan Tansey who fed the supporting Turner for a fifth try in six games.

Having lost so heavily six days ago, Wakefield were in no mood to roll over again and were level within seven minutes. Typically Cooke was the scorer, breaking through Danny Washbrook's tackle after Julien Rinaldi had gone close, although replays suggested he had not grounded correctly.

Cooke shrugged off the barracking of the Hull fans behind the posts to convert his own try and then created a second for Rinaldi 12 minutes before the break.

The former France hooker agreed a permanent deal with the Wildcats on Friday and celebrated it in style as he crashed over after Richard Whiting had failed to deal with Cooke's high kick to the corner.

There was little quality on display from either side after the restart, with penalties and stray passes coming regularly, before Wakefield stretched their lead on 52 minutes. A sequence of shambolic attempts to start an attack saw Hull penned back on their own line, and Wakefield's territory eventually told as Charlie Leaeno trundled over off a Ben Jeffries pass.

Even the return of Richard Horne after two months out with a knee injury failed to spark Hull into life, and when Jeffries split the posts with a 57th-minute drop goal it was no more than Wakefield deserved, if only for their effort rather than their quality.

But there was no denying the ability shown by Millard in sealing the win with a 75-metre run that saw him turn Whiting inside out after Horne's pass went to ground, before Jason Demetriou added a flattering fifth try in the last minute.

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