Saints' were down to 12 and then 11 men, but a heroic defensive performance resulted in a 25-0 win over Huddersfield Giants on Friday night.
๐ดโช ๐๐ผ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐๐! ๐ดโช
Introducing your Saints team to face @giantsrl live on Sky Sports! โ #COYS
— St.Helens R.F.C. (@Saints1890) July 15, 2022
Huddersfield dominated the opening six minutes of the encounter and camped on the Saints line for the majority of it with a succession of penalties, however a great one-on-one steal by Sione Mata’utia gave Saints the ball back as he broke away upfield. Saints thought they had taken the lead during that set, Morgan Knowles offloading to James Roby close to the Giants line but the skipper knocked the ball on with the try line inches away.
Saints had the chance to take a 14th minute lead after winning a penalty for a high shot on Jonny Lomax, he stepped up to take the kick himself, but it went narrowly wide so the score remained scoreless. Mata’utia was then sent off for Saints after a tackle on Danny Levi left the Giants hooker down before our number 11 was shown the red for grabbing his opponents collar.
Twelve man Saints did take the lead in the 28th minute though, Lomax put a kick through and was impeded as he chased the ball, but Joe Batchelor won the race to the loose ball to open the scoring. Lomax was able to convert so Saints led 6-0.
That Lomax & Batchelor link up again ๐@Saints1890 on the board live on @SkySportsRL#SuperLeague #SLStHHud pic.twitter.com/6gAXxDxJ3k
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) July 15, 2022
Huddersfield had the chance to add two points just before the break after a late hit by Knowles, Will Pryce stepped up but he missed the kick from long range as the twelve man Saints led the Giants 6-0 at the break.
HT: ๐ดโช Saints 6-0 Giants ๐ฎ๐
The 12 men of Saints take a one score lead into the break…#COYS
— St.Helens R.F.C. (@Saints1890) July 15, 2022
Saints made a dream start to the second half. Huddersfield knocked on in their own half giving us great field position, after moving the ball downfield for a few tackles, Knowles found Agnatius Paasi who crashed over for his second try in Saints colours. Lomax converted again, 12-0 Saints led.
Paasi loving that ๐ @Saints1890 over for their second ๐#SuperLeague #SLStHHud pic.twitter.com/tnXndqDD7n
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) July 15, 2022
During the next set Saints broke downfield again after some good carries from Konrad Hurrell, Curtis Sironen and Welsby to name a few, that earned us a penalty in front of the sticks which Lomax converted to make it 14-0.
Another Giants error led to the third Saints try. McGillvary dropped the ball whilst hurt but the referee gave a knock on, during the next set Saints threw it from left to right and Welsby broke a tackle to stroll over in the right corner. Lomax was unable to convert, 18-0.
Lomax kicked through behind the Giants defence and Innes Senior missed the loose ball which allowed Bennison to get his hands on it, but after a video referee review he was just about unable to ground the ball so it remained 18-0.
Knowles was then sent to the sin bin with nine minutes to go after an incident on the Saints try line which saw Saints down to eleven men for the last few minutes.
That wasn’t to stop the Saints grabbing more points though! Welsby once again made a break through the Giants defence and passed to Lomax on his outside and he races 40 metres to score in front of the West Stand. Lomax added the two, 24-0.
Huddersfield thought they had one back with three minutes to go as Will Pryce looked to have gone over from close range but after a video referee review, the Saints defence again came good!
Welsby then put the icing on the cake after he kicked a drop goal with three seconds left on the clock as Saints recorded a memorable win!
Match Summary
Saints Team:ย Will Hopoate, Jonathan Bennison, Konrad Hurrell, Sione Mataโutia, Regan Grace, Jack Welsby, Jonny Lomax, Alex Walmsley, James Roby, Matty Lees, Joe Batchelor, Curtis Sironen, Morgan Knowles.
Interchanges:ย Joey Lussick, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Agnatius Paasi, Jake Wingfield.
Tries:ย Joe Batchelor (28), Agnatius Paasi (45), Jack Welsby (53), Jonny Lomax (73)
Conversions:ย Jonny Lomax (3 from 4)
Penalties:ย Jonny Lomax (1 from 2)
Drop Goal: Jack Welsby (79)
Sin Bin:ย Morgan Knowles (71)
Red Card:ย Sione Mata’utia (16)
Huddersfield Giants Team:ย Will Pryce, Jermaine McGillvary, Leroy Cudjoe, Toby King, Innes Senior, Oliver Russell, Theo Fages, Joe Greenwood, Danny Levi, Owen Trout, Josh Jones, Chris McQueen, Luke Yates.
Interchanges:ย Ashton Golding, Oliver Wilson, Jack Ashworth, Sam Hewitt.
Tries:ย
Conversions:ย
Penalties:ย Will Pryce (0 from 1)
HT:ย 6-0
FT:ย 25-0
Attendance: 11288
