ST HELENS 68 BARROW RAIDERS 6
STEPHEN IBBETSON, BrewDog Stadium, Saturday

DANI McGIFFORD scored a first-half hat-trick as St Helens made light work of Barrow to seal a Women’s Challenge Cup semi-final spot.

The winger’s trio of tries all came from well-worked moves with Saints particularly strong attacking down the left.

Fullback Rebecca Rotheram also zipped through to score in that corner midway through the first half, while centre Rachael Woosey scored two tries in four second-half minutes.

McGifford could have had a couple more in the second half but Woosey erred in providing the assist, then a forward pass saw another effort pulled back.

The latter came during a final quarter which Barrow, playing in their first quarter-final, had the better of, scoring its only points through Vanessa Temple’s intercept try and Beth Pattinson’s conversion.

That was reward for a gutsy defensive effort in the second half, having struggled to contain St Helens in the first.

Paige Travis scored twice, including the opener by punching through a gap inside two minutes, while Katie Mottershead got a brilliant try bursting out of dummy-half and Luci McColm powered over for a 46-0 half-time score.

After the break Vicky Whitfield ran a good line to race in and, following Woosey’s double, Shona Hoyle-Holdsworth scored perhaps the pick of their 13 tries – eight converted by Faye Gaskin – when she weaved through broken defence.

SAINTS: 1 Rebecca Rotheram, 5 Leah Burke, 4 Amy Hardcastle, 3 Rachael Woosey, 25 Dani McGifford, 6 Zoe Harris, 7 Faye Gaskin, 11 Shona Hoyle-Holdsworth, 17 Caitlin Casey, 16 Erin McDonald, 18 Luci McColm, 14 Paige Travis, 13 Jodie Cunningham. Subs (all used): 8 Vicky Whitfield, 9 Katie Mottershead, 12 Emily Rudge, 20 Alyx Bridge

Tries: Travis (2, 32), McGifford (9, 16, 37), Rotheram (20), Burke (28), Mottershead (34), McColm (39), Whitfield (49), Woosey (53, 56), Hoyle-Holdsworth (59); Goals: Gaskin 8/13

RAIDERS: 1 Sam Norman, 2 Chloe Capstick, 3 Emily Stirzaker, 17 Kelly Friend, 6 Kerrie-Ann Smith, 7 Beth Pattinson, 15 Jodie Crawford, 9 Beth Lindsay, 10 Jodie Morley, 8 Leah Clough, 12 Vanessa Temple, 14 Leah Cottier. Subs: 11 Lucy Dickinson, 16 Mia Dobson, 20 Imogen Smillie, 21 Hannah Thompson (not used)

Tries: Temple (78); Goals: Pattinson 1/1

SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 12-0, 16-0, 20-0, 24-0, 30-0, 36-0, 40-0, 46-0; 52-0, 58-0, 62-0, 68-0, 68-6

Half-time: 46-0; Referee: Adam Williams