Saints came from a 12-0 deficit to beat bottom of the table Wakefield Trinity in Golden Point after a Jack Welsby drop goal extended our lead at the top of the Betfred Super League to six points.
β«π§ ππΌππππ πππΌπ ππππ! β«π§
Your Saints team to face @WTrinityRL this afternoon…
It's a landmark appearance for @lomax_1990 who plays his π―π¬π¬ππ΅ career game! π#COYS
— St.Helens R.F.C. (@Saints1890) July 24, 2022
With the rain pouring down in Wakefield it was a sloppy start from Saints with a number of handling errors. The hosts had a number of early opportunities to open the scoring, but the final pass on two occasions found touch rather than the hands of either winger.
But Wakefield did take the lead on 12 minutes as the ball was moved to the right and debutant Jorge Taufua found himself the extra man and went over after 12 minutes. Mason Lino’s kick struck the post and came back out. 4-0 the hosts led.
Lino this time made no mistake minutes later as he kicked Trinity further ahead with a penalty. 6-0.
Saints pushed for a leveller, but could not find that cutting edge in attack whilst further errors followed. Trinity made Saints pay after Jacob Miller’s 40-20 attempt was kept in play by Welsby and in the process our number one palmed the ball back inside and Jack Croft was there to beat Regan Grace to the ball to touch down. Again Lino’s kick struck the sticks and the ball came back out. 10-0 Wakefield led.
James Bell, off the bench for Saints drove us forward and Joey Lussick fed Agnatius Paasi, but he lost the ball when going for the line under a challenge from two Wakefield players.
That was as good as it got for Saints in the first half. 10-0 we trailed at the break.
HT: βͺπ΅ Wakefield 10-0 Saints β«π§
Work to do in the second half!#COYS
— St.Helens R.F.C. (@Saints1890) July 24, 2022
Saints came out on the front foot, looking to respond, but Paasi lost the ball in his own 10. Trinity won back-to-back sets before a penalty which Lino kicked from right in front to extend their lead.
But Saints did get on the board on the 56th minute. Lussick was held up just short, before we won a penalty and shifted the ball from the scrum to the left where Regan Grace was there to finish in the corner. Jonny Lomax converted the try brilliantly from the touchline and we were back in it at 12-6.
Kristian Woolf’s men continued to push forward and were rewarded when a lovely move saw the ball worked to the right and Konrad Hurrell found Jon Bennison who went over for his third Saints try. Lomax again stepped up for the touchline conversion and again kicked it! 12-12 with 10 minutes to go.
Both sides went for one pointers late on, but to no avail and we were into golden point…
Wakefield had the first drop goal attempt of golden point, but Lino’s kick drifted wide and it was left to SUPER JACK to win it for Saints as he slotted over his one pointer after Lomax had fumbled, picked up and fed his partner in crime!
84β: SUPER JACK WELSBY WINS IT FOR SAINTS!!!!!
βͺπ΅ Wakefield 12-13 Saints β«π§ pic.twitter.com/3Xqi4X4m53
— St.Helens R.F.C. (@Saints1890) July 24, 2022
2οΈβ£ drop goals in 2οΈβ£ weeks for Super Jack! π #COYS | @jackwelsby_ pic.twitter.com/A3ToRw0U3J
— St.Helens R.F.C. (@Saints1890) July 24, 2022
Match Summary
Wakefield Team: Jamie Shaul, Lewis Murphy, Jack Croft, Lee Gaskell, Jorge Taufa, Jacob Miller, Mason Lino, Jai Whitbread, Liam Hood, Tinirau Arona, Matthew Ashurst, Kelepi Tangiona, James Batchelor.
Interchanges:Β Jordan Crowther, David Fifita, Josh Bowden, Edward Battye.
Tries: Taufua (12), Croft (26).
Conversions: Lino (0 from 2)
Penalties: Lino (24), (49).
Saints Team: Jack Welsby, Jonathan Bennison, Konrad Hurrell, Ben Davies, Regan Grace, James Roby, Jonny Lomax, Alex Walmsley, Joey Lussick, Matty Lees, Joe Batchelor, Curtis Sironen, Jake Wingfield.
Interchanges: Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Agnatius Paasi, James Bell, Dan Norman.
Tries: Grace (56), Bennison (69).
Conversions: Lomax (2 from 2)
Drop Goal: Welsby (Golden Point)
HT:Β 10-0
FT:Β 12-13
Attendance: TBC