Impressive St Helens brush aside Wakefield Trinity with relative ease

WAKEFIELD TRINITY 6 ST HELENS 26
CALLUM WALKER, DIY Kitchens Stadium, Saturday

ST HELENS maintained their 100 percent winning record with a comfortable – and impressive – win over a stubborn Wakefield.

Paul Wellens’ took the lead in the opening exchanges and never relinquished it as Jack Welsby, Daryl Clark and Kyle Feldt enjoyed stellar performances in front of a packed DIY Kitchens Stadium.

Jake Trueman returned from illness for Trinity as Renouf Atoni made his first appearance of the season, replacing Caius Faatili,with Liam Hood also back for Daryl Powell’s side.

James Bell, meanwhile, came in for the concussed Morgan Knowles with Jake Wingfield starting at loose-forward for Saints.

The visitors couldn’t have started much better, a Welsby bomb being dropped by the usually-safe Max Jowitt in the first set before Mark Percival slotted over a penalty for a ball steal on Alex Walmsley.

Tom Johnstone was then dragged into touch with Trinity wasting their Captain’s Challenge in the eighth minute when Liam Hood failed to play the ball successfully.

That paved the way for Wingfield to almost canter over but Jowitt’s desperate ankle tap saw the Saints man lose possession.

Wakefield themselves squandered the opportunity to restore parity when they decided to run a penalty moments later as Mike McMeeken left the field for a HIA.

As it was, a moment of controversy yielded the first try of the afternoon as the clock struck 20 minutes.

A superb effort by Jon Bennison to offload inside when he looked certain to be bundled into touch was hacked on by Curtis Sironen as Welsby pounced. But, Bennison’s pass appeared forward and there were question marks over Sironen knocking on also.

Video referee Marcu Griffiths, however, awarded the try – much to the chagrin of the home support. Percival’s conversion made it 8-0.

The home side didn’t have long to wait for a response, though, with Isaiah Vagana proving too strong from close range after the hosts pounced on a Harry Robertson error. Jowitt converted to reduce the deficit to two at 8-6.

McMeeken returned to the field but, just as he did, Johnstone lost the ball into the arms of a gleeful Robertson who atoned for his earlier error to sprint home from 30 metres.

Percival’s conversion hit the post but Saints now led 12-6.

And after Trinity managed to withstand heaps of pressure, Jowitt was penalised on the hooter for obstructing a Saints kick-chaser. Percival made it 14-6 at half-time.

It was nip-and-tuck at the start of the second-half as both sides looked to deliver a killer blow – and it was the visitors that did just that with the hour approaching.

A silky step from Tristan Sailor gave the Saints man enough space to send Clark over the whitewash. Percival extended the visitors’ lead to 20-6.

Trinity almost hit back but Johnstone again knocked on with the line begging and Saints punished Powell’s side, Feldt flying in at the corner with a trademark finish. Percival’s excellent conversion rounded off the scoring at 26-6.

GAMESTAR: Jack Welsby controlled the game.

GAMEBREAKER: Daryl Clark’s try on the hour effectively sealed the two points for St Helens.

HIGHLIGHT REEL: Kyle Feldt finishing expertly in the corner on 67 minutes was a real winger’s try.

ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Jack Welsby (St Helens)
2 pts Daryl Clark (St Helens)
1 pt Kyle Feldt (St Helens)

MATCHFACTS
TRINITY
1 Max Jowitt
2 Lachlan Walmsley
19 Oliver Pratt
4 Corey Hall
5 Tom Johnstone
6 Jake Trueman
20 Mason Lino
8 Mike McMeeken (C)
9 Liam Hood
15 Caleb Hamlin-Uele
18 Isaiah Vagana
17 Matty Storton
13 Jay Pitts
Subs (all used)
7 Oliver Russell
14 Thomas Doyle
16 Renouf Atoni
25 Jack Croft
18th man (not used)
31 Caius Faatili
Also in 21-man squad
23 Josh Rourke
24 Matty Russell
28 Harvey Smith

Tries: Vagana (27)
Goals: Jowitt 1/1

SAINTS
1 Jack Welsby
2 Kyle Feldt
26 Harry Robertson
4 Mark Percival
5 Jon Bennison
6 Tristan Sailor
7 Jonny Lomax (C)
8 Alex Walmsley
9 Daryl Clark
10 Matty Lees
11 Curtis Sironen
12 Joe Batchelor
18 Jake Wingfield
Subs (all used)
15 James Bell
16 Matt Whitley
17 Agnatius Paasi
19 George Delaney
18th man (not used)
21 Noah Stephens
Also in 21-man squad
14 Moses Mbye
22 Ben Davies
23 Jake Burns