England winger Tom Johnstone wowed his coach Daryl Powell with an “unbelievable” return from injury as Wakefield Trinity dumped Leeds Rhinos out of the Betfred Challenge Cup.
Johnstone was man of the match in Trinity’s 24-14 win which was his first game back since suffering a knee injury in pre-season.
Johnstone’s pass sent Oliver Pratt over for a vital try after the half-time hooter and he paved the way for Matty Storton to score early in the second period with a stunning run from inside his own half.
Powell summed up Johnstone’s contribution in one word: “Wow.” He said: “He was unbelievable.
“The break he made just before [Matty Storton] scored was phenomenal. There must have been eight tackle-busts in one run.
“He looked great. He hasn’t done a massive amount of training, he has been in and out of looking like he’s going to be fit and then he needed an operation, but wow, that’s some kind of first game back in.
“I haven’t seen him play that well for a long time. He looked every inch an international player.”
RFL error, coaches under pressure and Super League’s injury crisis – click here to watch the latest episode of the Serious About Rugby League Show
Wakefield Trinity boss hails Challenge Cup performance
Johnstone was the star, but Powell was delighted with a “great” all-round team performance. Trinity hit back from 14-6 down to secure a place in Tuesday’s quarter-final draw and the team boss reflected: “They [Leeds] have been playing great so we knew it would be a real challenge for us.
“I am made up, so delighted with the players and for the players the way they have applied themselves tonight.
“I thought we were great, to be honest. All through the game, but our last two second half performances have been exceptional.”
Powell added: “Our resilience in the second half was really good and I thought we were better how we finished our sets.
“Our back-field boys in the second half were unbelievable. We gave too much away in the first half, spoke about it at half-time and I thought they held their nerve a lot better in the second half under a lot of pressure, because nobody else kicks a ball like [Rhinos’] Jake Connor.
“It comes down with snow on it and we dealt with it a lot better in the second half. I thought that was one of the pivotal things in the game.”
Daryl Powell’s verdict on floodlight failure
It was a night of drama on and off the field and for a while it looked like the game might be abandoned after the Belle Vue floodlights failed with just six minutes played.
Referee Jack Smith ordered the players back to the changing rooms while the public address system made an appeal to find the ‘leader of the yellow team’, to the amusement of the 7,136 crowd.
Power was restored after a break of around 25 minutes, but Powell admitted he feared both sides might have to return on Sunday.
He said: “That was going through my mind, that was the last thing we wanted to do for the supporters and the players who get themselves up for a game and mentally ready to go.
“I thought it was a good bit of drama and fun for the fans with the announcements looking for the leader of the yellow team.
“That was quite funny, then the cheering when the lights came on. It ended up being a bit of theatre; while you don’t want it to be that way, I thought it was quite funny really.”
Catalans Dragons
Catalans Dragons coach shares Joel Tomkins’ update amid exit reports
