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PAUL Wellens grabbed a hat-trick as Saints beat Hull FC 30-6 at a cold KC Stadium.

The full back took his treble well and was equally as solid in defence as his side remained top of the Super League table.

There was also a first try for Jonny Lomax after a superb Matt Gidley offload.

As clinical as they were attack – Saints were also tenacious in defence, denying Hull on several occasions with some last gasp tackling.

But in all fairness, this was a superb performance at a difficult place to visit and the scoreline did in no way flatter the league leaders.

Team wise, Mick Potter recalled Francis Meli from injury for his 100^th appearance, whilst Lomax was named on the other wing.

Lee Gilmour returned at centre and Chris Flannery paired up with Jon Wilkin in the second row.

Matty Ashurst completed a strong looking bench.

Hull named an unchanged team from the one that lost at Leeds.

Both sides began with a very strong kick chase but it was Hull that had first real pressure when Tony Puletua looked to be penalised for not standing square. But Saints defence was sound to the task.

On five minutes Mutu Tony broke through the centre but once again the defence held firm.

And a couple of minutes later Sean Long kicked a high ball that Mutu Tony seemed to knock on, but referee Phil Bentham allowed play to continue.

But on 12 minutes, Jonny Lomax finished off a fine move to open his account for the club. The ball was moved through hands – Long and Pryce instrumental – before Matt Gidley used the overlap to send the youngster over. Long short with a tricky conversion from the touchline.

Paul Wellens then stretched the lead further when Jon Wilkin broke through and fed Longy who then found the full back in support. Long with the conversion.

Hull thought they had hit back when Mike Burnett fired a pass to Gareth Raynor, but he was called back for a forward pass.

And the home side’s persistence eventually paid off when a pass evaded an interception attempt and Danny Tickle used his momentum and pace to go under the black dot. He then converted his own try to bring his side right back into it.

But Saints scored right at the stroke of half time when Paul Wellens bamboozled the defence to go over. The move came from a fantastic break by Meli, who got the ball – somehow – to Lee Gilmour as he looked to go in touch. From there, Saints put on a move which saw two dummy runners draw the heat away from Leon Pryce who simply bided his time to send Wellens over. Superb.

Half Time: Hull 6 Saints 14

Hull began a bitterly cold second half on the attack on the back of two penalties but Saints defence was once again too keen.

Moments later Chris Thorman sent a weighted kick into the corner for Mark Calderwood to chase, but Meli had it covered.

But on 52 minutes, a freak of a kick saw the ever opportunistic Wellens grab his hat-trick. Long sent a high ballooning kick on the last which looked to be going out of play; but it bounced in the in-goal area and Wellens took full advantage to out leap Mutu Tony and twist over. Long with the extras.

On 59 minutes Hull again had some sustained pressure on Saints line with multiple sets of six and a bizarre penalty for offside even though they were camped on their own line. Saints withstood something like four sets before Jon Wilkin gratefully pounced on a Thorman kick through.

And within six tackles of their own, Lomax was forcing a drop out. From there, Keiron Cunningham was held up over the line and then in a carbon copy incident, Leon Pryce was denied too.

From the restart Saints made no mistake. The ball came left, they had numbers and Lee Gilmour did the rest.

Maurie Fa’asavalu then sealed the win with a rampaging run.

The win gave Saints their 15th consecutive away win and equalled Bradford's Super League record, set in 1997.

Match Summary:

Hull:

Tries: Tickle

Goals: Tickle (1 from 1)

Saints:

Tries: Lomax, Wellens (3), Gilmour, Fa’asavalu

Goals: Long (3 from 6)

Penalties:

Hull: 7

Saints: 3

HT (Sts First): 14-6

FT (Sts First): 30-6

REF: Phil Bentham

ATT: 12,009

Teams:

Hull:

1. Mutu Tony; 2. Mark Calderwood, 14. Richard Whiting, 4. Kirk Yeaman, 5. Gareth Raynor; 6. Richard Horne, 7. Chris Thorman; 8. Ewan Dowes, 9. Shaun Berrigan, 18. Jamie Thackray, 22. Mike Burnett, 12. Danny Tickle, 11. Lee Radford (c).

Subs: 19. Paul King, 20. Danny Houghton, 23. Tommy Lee, 25. Dominic Maloney.

Saints:

1. Paul Wellens; 30. Jonny Lomax, 3. Matt Gidley, 11. Lee Gilmour, 5. Francis Meli; 6. Leon Pryce, 7. Sean Long; 10. James Graham, 9. Keiron Cunningham (c), 15. Bryn Hargreaves, 12. Jon Wilkin, 13. Chris Flannery, 16. Tony Puletua.

Subs: 14. James Roby, 17. Paul Clough, 23. Maurie Fa’asavalu, 28. Matty Ashurst.

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