Wakefield Trinity interim-coach Willie Poching hails spirit and togetherness after win over Leeds Rhinos

Trinity trailed twice and Poching was proud of their “togetherness” in a tough clash which was not settled until the final play.

Poching reflected: “It was nice to win a derby, we lost one a couple of weeks ago [at Castleford] and in that, for 40 minutes we lacked the emotion that should go with playing in a derby game.

“This time they showed a lot of spirit and fight right from the start, which is what I asked them to do. To get the rewards for that is really pleasing and so is some of the spirit and belief they are playing with.

“They are showing they are a real unit and for me, that’s a massive factor.

“That’s the thing that I am after when they cross that line, that - regardless of who’s wearing the Wakey jersey - they are there for each other and they protect each other. We are starting to see some of that pretty consistently.”

Trinity did not go ahead until 10 minutes from time and Poching described the closing stages as “tense”, but was delighted with the way his team - who were without influential forwards Joe Westerman, Matty Ashurst and Tinirau Arona - held their nerve.

“In those moments we have relied a lot on Joe Westerman,” Poching said.

“He has been a big, important factor for us, but today it was about other people stepping up.

“It shows, for me, a lot of growth in where they are and being calm and trusting one another to come through a really tight situation.”

Poching felt Wakefield defended well in the first half, but were “not clinical enough” on attack.

“We regrouped at half-time and addressed some of that,” he added.

“I thought they were really good at delivering what they promised at half-time.”

Trinity have now won three of their four games since Poching - who was previous boss Chris Chester’s assistant - took temporary charge, all against teams in top-six contention. Of his hopes of getting the job on a long-term basis, Poching insisted: “That will look after itself in due course, if that’s to be.”