Saints » Results

Saints got their first hit out of the season when they took on Wakefield in Paul Sculthorpe’s testimonial.

Although the ever popular number 13 was pulled out of the game by Head Coach Daniel Anderson during the week, Saints still fielded a strong line up for the match in his honour.

In fact, they fielded two…

Played over four 20 minute periods, the first line up for the first 40 minutes featured the likes of Paul Wellens, Matt Gidley and Sean Long, whilst the second line up had a more youthful look.

Man of Steel James Roby captained the second team and lined up alongside Maurie Fa’asavalu, Paul Clough, Mike Bennett and the youth talents of Jamie Foster, Dave Hull and Gary Wheeler.

On the bench for both games were Sean Magennis, Andrew Dixon and Andy Yates whilst Gareth Frodsham benched in the first game.

Saints were on the attack pretty much straightaway when referee Gareth Hewer pulled the Cats up for a high tackle. But despite strong runs from Graham and Fozzard Wakefield held firm.

A few seconds later, Longy unlocked the defence and was hauled down inches from the line by Blaymire..

After seven minutes, Saints turned over the ball and from the scrum Rooney kicked over the defence for Aaron Murphy to chase – Meli more than up to the threat.

From the drop out, Wakefield found themselves in the Saints twenty for the first time and unlocked the defence. Clever play managed to work a gap using Obst and Rooney to put in Ferguson. Simple and effective. Brough with the extras.

But Saints hit back straightaway; clever hands getting the ball wide to Gilmour who forced it over in the corner.

For anyone watching, it was pretty obvious both sides were not at full pelt but wanting to make a point to their coaches. There was a lot of dropped ball but no shortage of effort.

And it was Saints who scored next when a Wakefield mistake in their own 10 metre area was picked up by Flanno. Tyrer added the conversion.

Just seconds before, Long started an attack that went through at least 10 pairs of hands – exciting watching for the season ahead.

First Quarter over: 10-6.

Into the second period Saints started like a house on fire and strong runs from Fozzie and Graham got them within feet. On the last tackle, Cunningham fed Wilkin who showed quick feet to allow Ste Tyrer to come in and score. Tyrer added the two.

Saints were clearly finding their feet and displaying some of the sharpness honed on the training field. And when MacGillivray was punished for a spear tackle on Keiron Cunningham they found themselves once again in Trinity’s 20.

And like the previous scores, the ball was worked wide and Fozzard showed immense strength to get over. Tyrer added the extras.

Yates then came on for Fozzard to sample the action and was hammered by Moore and Leo-Latu in his first drive up.

Yates then spurred on Saints next attack putting in a big drive to allow Wilkin to break through the defence. Wilkin then passed inside to Gardner who was hauled down.

And on the home side’s next attack, Yates took the ball in giving Flanno the chance to duck and weave his to the line. His pass inside was taken by Wellens who couldn’t get the ball out and the chance was lost.

With seconds left in the half, Drew worked some space for Obst to scoot through a gap and reduce the arrears.

Luke George then went through three tackles to go over in the corner.

Half Time: 22-16

A young Saints team came out for the second half and from the first tackle, the ‘kids’ meant business.

Matty Smith was unlucky not to get on the board early doors after a quick scoot and Maurie very nearly burrowed over from sort range.

And as Wakefield’s ill discipline continued, Saints began to press home their advantage and were very unlucky not to go in after great work from Jamie Foster and Dave Hull.

Kyle then showed the injection of pace and clever footwork that the Academy has been seeing for the past couple of years.

The diminutive full back flew through a gap and drew the man to send in Matty Smith. Foster added the extras.

Wakefield tried to come back strong but every time they got close to the line, the ball would come lose or some superb tackling would quell the attack.

Third Quarter: 28-12

Into the fourth quarter Wakefield came at the young Saints hard and after forcing a drop out, the ball was put through several pairs of hands before Wilkes managed to ground the ball… although to everyone bar the referee it seemed to have been held up by Frodsham.

Another piece of foul play found Saints charging in on the Wakefield line. This time, Maurie Fa’asavalu did the damage and flipped out a magic ball to Clough who, with a sniff of the tryline, bulldozed his way through. Foster slotted the extras from out wide.

On Saints next set of six, Maurie again drove the ball in and a clever chip brought a drop out.

From the kick, Jamie Foster showed some lightning pace and fleet of foot to send Hull on his way. But the covering tackles denied the winger a chance.

With around seven to go, Kelvin Fletcher aka Andy Sugden from Emmerdale – wearing 22 – made his Saints debut and took the ball in from dummy half and was abruptly stopped.

Foster then scored in the corner after great work from Robes and Smith to round off a great personal performance. Fletcher had an opportunity to add the two points, but was short. Accuracy not an issue!

Full Time: 38-22

After the game Daniel Anderson said: “I thought the game gave plenty of positive indications. It was a good hit out for the team and I thought we showed some great touches.”

Match Summary:

Tries:

Saints: Gilmour, Flannery, Tyrer, Fozzard, Smith, Clough, Foster

Wakefield: Ferguson, Obst, George, Wilkes

Goals:

Saints: Tyrer (2 from 3), Foster (2 from 2), Fletcher (0 from 1)

Wakefield: Brough (2 from 3), Martin (1 from 1)

Penalties:

Saints: 10

Wakefield: 4

1st Qu: 10-6

HT: 22-16

3rd Qu: 28-16

FT: 38-22

ATT: 4,192

Ref: G Hewer

Teams:

First Half Saints:

Paul Wellens; Ade Gardner, Matt Gidley, Ste Tyrer, Francis Meli; Leon Pryce, Sean Long; Nick Fozzard, Keiron Cunningham (c), James Graham, Jon Wilkin, Chris Flannery, Lee Gilmour.

(Subs): Sean Magennis, Andrew Dixon, Andy Yates.

Second Half Saints:

Kyle Eastmond; Dave Hull, Jamie Foster, Chris Dean, Dean McGilvray; Gary Wheeler, Matty Smith; Gareth Frodsham, James Roby (c),Maurie Fa’asavalu, Paul Clough, Mike Bennett, Bryn Hargreaves.

(Subs): Sean Magennis, Andrew Dixon, Andy Yates.

Special Guest Appearance: Kelvin Fletcher.

Wakefield:

1. Matt Blaymire; 27. Aaron Murphy, 19. Sean Gleeson, 4. Ryan Atkins, 26. Luke George; 6. Jamie Rooney, 7. Danny Brough; 16. Ricky Bibey, 14. Sam Obst, 10. Danny Sculthorpe, 24. Dale Ferguson, 12. Duncan MacGillivray, 13. Jason Demetriou.

(Subs): 21. Scott Grix, 3. Tony Martin, 9. Brad Drew, 25. Richard Moore, 20. Tevita Leo-Latu, 8. Adam Watene, 18. Oliver Wilkes, 11. Brett Ferres, 17. Kevin Henderson, 23. Jason Golden.