FEATHERSTONE ROVERS 0 ST HELENS 46
STEPHEN IBBETSON, Millennium Stadium, Saturday

TWO of St Helens’ lesser-known figures took the spotlight with hat-tricks in a victory that required some patience.

Academy product Liv Leach, in only her third senior game, scored the first and last of Saints’ ten tries among her treble from fullback.

And Hollie Bawden, a rugby union convert signed last season and coming off the bench for a twelfth club appearance, also celebrated a trio of touchdowns – doubling her 13-a-side haul in the process.

The scoreline might have been more reflective of St Helens’ dominance had Faye Gaskin successfully kicked more than three of her ten attempts.

However, Featherstone deserve credit for a hard-working display on the back of picking up their first win against Barrow seven days earlier.

They went into half-time just 12-0 behind, with Leach and Bawden’s efforts followed four minutes from the break by Rachael Woosey.

Leach got a much sharper second-half Saints display going with a second try which, like the first, was created with a dummy, then Bawden found space to cross twice more in nine minutes.

Rovers finally wilted in the last 13 minutes, conceding four more tries from Gaskin, Dani McGifford, Caitlin Casey and exciting prospect Leach.

ROVERS: 19 Beth Macmillan, 18 Ash Prescott, 13 Dani Waters, 4 Lydia Fawkes, 5 Shavon Craven, 29 Cerys Gregory, 32 Cristina Song Puche, 8 Katie Evans, 6 Charley Blackburn, 24 Sammy Watts, 16 Kacey Davies, 31 Téssa Benmalek, 10 Emillie Holmes. Subs (all used): 15 Aaliyah Brewster, 22 Michaela Magonya, 23 Hope Throw, 26 Bella Kendrick-Naylor

SAINTS: 23 Liv Leach, 5 Leah Burke, 4 Amy Hardcastle, 5 Rachael Woosey, 25 Dani McGifford, 6 Zoe Harris, 7 Faye Gaskin, 28 Jadine McVernon, 17 Caitlin Casey, 16 Erin McDonald, 20 Alyx Bridge, 12 Emily Rudge, 13 Jodie Cunningham. Subs (all used): 8 Vicky Whitfield, 9 Katie Mottershead, 21 Hollie Bawden, 22 Mia Drescher

Tries: Leach (6, 42, 78), Bawden (17, 46, 55), Woosey (36), Gaskin (67), McGifford (70), Casey (75); Goals: Gaskin 3/10

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-4, 0-8, 0-12; 0-18, 0-22, 0-26, 0-32, 0-38, 0-42, 0-46

Half-time: 0-12