HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS 4 ST HELENS 46
STEPHEN IBBETSON, John Smith’s Stadium, Friday
ST HELENS eased to a predictable twelfth win in succession over Huddersfield.
The Giants haven’t beaten Saints since March 2020, and not on home soil since 2017, and never threatened to end either run in this drab affair.
A first victory on the road in five is a welcome boon for coach Paul Wellens and, following a 40-0 win over Catalans the previous week, they showed further signs of real attacking improvement with hat-trick hero Jack Welsby at the heart.
For Huddersfield, an eleventh loss from twelve this season – and seventh from seven at the John Smith’s Stadium in all competitions – came with a whimper.
Saints were ten points up after as many minutes as an early Tristan Sailor double put them in full command.
First he benefitted from a sweet, quick pass from Welsby, then he was played into space on the end of a sweeping move off a scrum.
Huddersfield’s task became even more difficult when Taane Milne was sent to the sin bin for pulling Curtis Sironen back as he chased a Jonny Lomax kick.
That effort proved somewhat in vain anyway as, while Milne was off the field, Sironen scored off another Lomax grubber.
That made it 0-16 and St Helens added another six points when Welsby ran onto a rare kick by Morgan Knowles.
George Whitby converted three of their four first-half efforts and they might have had another on the stroke of half-time, except Lomax was judged not have grounded a kick by Welsby.
Instead, Huddersfield launched their first real attack in the final minute of the half and Alex Walmsley was shown the yellow card for not releasing in front of the posts, as Saints survived to the break but a man down.
They were unthreatened in the first ten minutes of the second half, although needed the intervention of Walmsley, alongside Whitby, to hold up Tui Lolohea shortly after the prop’s return.
And Saints’ advantage then grew to 0-28 as Sailor launched up the field with a 20-metre restart, handing on to Welsby on halfway to cover the remaining distance to the line.
Huddersfield got their first points all too late on the hour mark, creating space wide right for Lolohea to put Jake Bibby.
But the away side quickly re-established control with a sharp move left through the hands of Welsby and Deon Cross giving Lewis Murphy just enough time and space for a spectacular diving finish.
Moments earlier, Saints took the opportunity to bring young back Owen Dagnall off the bench for his Super League debut at centre.
He was unable to mark the occasion with a try but after being stopped just short of the line nine minutes from time, Sironen strolled over for his second on the next play.
Whitby’s strong kicking continued to bring his side to 40 points for the second week in a row, and Welsby completed his hat-trick by weaving through tired Giants bodies with five minutes to go.
GAMESTAR: Jack Welsby showed some touches of his class in an excellent fullback display.
GAMEBREAKER: If ever a game could be over after ten minutes, this was it.
HIGHLIGHT REEL: The full-length try started by Tristan Sailor and finished by Jack Welsby.
ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Jack Welsby (St Helens)
2 pts Curtis Sironen (St Helens
1 pt Tristan Sailor (St Helens)
MATCHFACTS
GIANTS
6 Tui Lolohea
2 Adam Swift
5 Sam Halsall
23 Taane Milne
1 Jacob Gagai
27 Kieran Rush
7 Adam Clune
16 George King
9 Zac Woolford
17 Joe Greenwood
13 Harry Rushton
3 Jake Bibby
21 Leroy Cudjoe
Subs (all used)
8 Oliver Wilson
12 Sam Hewitt
10 Tom Burgess
14 Ashton Golding
18th man (not used)
30 Jack Bibby
Also in 21-man squad
11 Jack Murchie
28 Connor Carr
29 George Flanagan
Tries: Jake Bibby (59)
Goals: Lolohea 0/1
Sin bin: Milne (14) – professional foul
SAINTS
1 Jack Welsby
6 Tristan Sailor
36 Deon Cross
4 Mark Percival
20 Lewis Murphy
27 George Whitby
7 Jonny Lomax
8 Alex Walmsley
9 Daryl Clark
19 George Delaney
11 Curtis Sironen
13 Morgan Knowles
10 Matty Lees
Subs (all used)
14 Moses Mbye
17 Agnatius Paasi
21 Noah Stephens
30 Owen Dagnall
18th man (not used)
23 Jake Burns
Also in 21-man squad
5 Jon Bennison
18 Jake Wingfield
34 Jake Davies
Tries: Sailor (5, 10), Sironen (18, 71), Welsby (28, 55, 75), Murphy (64)
Goals: Whitby 7/8
Sin bin: Walmsley (40) – professional foul
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-10, 0-16, 0-22; 0-28, 4-28, 4-34, 4-40, 4-46
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Giants: Leroy Cudjoe; Saints: Jack Welsby
Penalty count: 3-3
Half-time: 0-22
Referee: Chris Kendall
Attendance: 4,029
