INTERIM St Helens boss Eamon O’Carroll was happy after his final game in charge to have sent two club legends out winners.

Jonny Lomax and Mark Percival both played their final games before retirement, sharing three tries and two goals between them in a 36-12 victory over weakened Hull KR.

“It’s been an emotional week but one of my favourites building up to this – I’m really happy for both Jonny and Mark,” O’Carroll said.

“All the ex-players we had here today just shows you the character of both those boys and it was a fitting send-off for them.

“I think the emotion got to us a little bit to begin with. It became a scrappy game but I think we got back to what we wanted to do late on and I’m really pleased we got through that period and got the result for our boys.

“Our senior guys played big minutes but Percy and Jonny played like it was their last game. A lot of what they did was tough and skillful and I’m really pleased for them to go out the way they did.”

Looking back at his time in the hot seat, O’Carroll was generally happy despite missing out on the play-offs.

“I think we’ve collectively put things in place. If you said to me you’d get a crack for seven weeks and judge your time I’d be happy,” he said.

“We’ve had dips at times but we’ve made huge strides forward and I’m really proud of what we’ve done in a short space of time.”

Hull KR boss Willie Peters was beaming with pride as his young side pushed Saints closer than many would have expected.

With a play off place secured, Peters opted to rest the vast majority of his senior stars, handing debuts to six players in total, and saw them hold their own for the majority of the contest.

“I was pleased with a lot of it (the performance),” he said.

“With us having 17-year-olds and academy prospects out there you’re always going to have drop-offs, but tonight I’m as proud as I’ve ever been since I’ve been at this club.

“We talk about wanting to build a club and youth coming through and some guys have really put their hand up tonight. Some of these players are still two years away but what they did tonight was huge and I’m really pleased for them.”

Despite the defeat, Peters put huge emphasis on the effort of his young side.

“We pride ourselves on world-class effort on every play and we saw that tonight,” he explained.

Peters also said: “I want to pay tribute to Jonny (Lomax) and Mark (Percival), two absolute champions of the game who have had hugely successful careers here and I wish them all the best.”