Saints lost 4-17 to Leeds Rhinos at Newcastle United’s St James’ Park on Saturday evening…

Leeds took the lead four minutes in. They opted to go down their short-side on the left in midfield, Ash Handley moved forward and found Jack Sinfield in support on his inside who kicked into space behind the Saints defence and Riley Lumb scored. Lachie Miller couldn’t convert, 0-4 Saints trailed.

They could’ve extended their lead ten minutes in. The Rhinos moved the ball from left to right, Miller tried a cut-out pass to Lumb but the ball sailed into touch.

Soon after, they did extend their lead. Alfie Edgell broke down the right wing after collecting a pass from Harry Newman, he cut inside and found Miller in support and he scored under the sticks. He converted his own try, 0-10.

Another big chance followed. The Rhinos got a scrum ten metres from the Saints line. On the first tackle they moved it left, Jack Sinfield threw a cut-out pass to Lumb who raced towards the corner but Tristan Sailor beat him there and pushed him into touch.

Saints’ first real opening came 25 minutes in. A penalty pushed the Red V into Leeds’ 20. The visitors moved the ball right a few tackles in but Jon Bennison was pushed into touch short of the line.

Leeds then had a good chance to further extended their advantage. A penalty against Morgan Knowles in Saints territory saw them opt for two points which Miller missed from 25 metres out, 0-10 it remained.

Towards the end of the first half, Saints lost Knowles to a HIA, which he passed and returned to the game in the second half. No further first half points followed, as Saints trailed 0-10 at the break at St James’ Park.

It was Saints who grabbed the first points of the second half. George Whitby found Matt Whitley who broke, he threw a dummy which fooled Miller and scored. Whitby was unable to convert, 4-10 Saints trailed.

Saints continued to apply the pressure. Following a Sailor break which put Saints in good field position, the Rhinos saw out the remainder of that set but then made a few errors in repeat sets on their own line which allowed the Red V to keep coming at them. The last of them saw Welsby put a low kick in, which Miller gathered on his own line.

We then had a trip to the video referee. Welsby’s high kick on the last was competed for, with the ball bouncing backwards around before the ball was knocked dead in-goal, with the check for a penalty try for an incident with Percival. Nothing was eventually given but Murphy was sent to the sin bin following the incident in the air.

Leeds took almost immediate advantage of the extra man, as Sinfield kicked a dropgoal to give them a two-score lead, 4-11.

Another trip to the video referee quickly followed. Leeds moved the ball from right to left and Lumb looked to have scored in the corner. Some good last ditch defending from Whitley saw the Leeds winger go into touch though before grounding the ball.

With six minutes to go, we had another trip upstairs. Saints kept the ball alive on the last tackle, eventually working it to Whitby who kicked high to the corner. Sailor competed for it, the ball went to ground before Deon Cross picked it up and scored in the corner. The on field call of no try was agreed with, 4-11 it remained.

Just before fulltime, we had another trip upstairs. Leeds got a penalty and moved into the Saints half, they went left and Morgan Gannon crashed over from close range. Miller converted, 4-17.

Those were the final points of the evening, as Saints were beaten 4-17 by Leeds at Magic WKND.

Match Summary

Saints Team: Tristan Sailor, Jon Bennison, Deon Cross, Mark Percival, Lewis Murphy, Jack Welsby, George Whitby, Agnatius Paasi, Moses Mbye, Matty Lees, Curtis Sironen, Matt Whitley, Morgan Knowles.

Interchanges: Jonny Lomax, Alex Walmsley, Daryl Clark, George Delaney.

18th Man: Jake Wingfield.

Tries: Matt Whitley (48)

Conversions: George Whitby (0 from 1)

Sin Bin: Lewis Murphy (60)

Leeds Rhinos Team: Lachie Miller, Alfie Edgell, Harry Newman, Ash Handley, Riley Lumb, Jake Connor, Jack Sinfield, Keenan Palasia, Jarrod O’Connor, Mikolaj Oledzki, James McDonnell, Morgan Gannon, Kallum Watkins.

Interchanges: James Bentley, Sam Lisone, Cooper Jenkins, Tom Holroyd.

18th Man: Matt Frawley.

Tries: Riley Lumb (4), Lachie Miller (14), Morgan Gannon (77)

Conversions: Lachie Miller (2 from 3)

Penalties: Lachie Miller (0 from 1)

Dropgoal: Jack Sinfield (62)

HT: 0-10

FT: 4-17

Saints Line up

6 Tristan Sailor
5 Jon Bennison
36 Deon Cross
4 Mark Percival
20 Lewis Murphy
1 Jack Welsby
27 George Whitby
17 Agnatius Paasi
14 Moses Mbye
10 Matty Lees
11 Curtis Sironen
16 Matt Whitley
13 Morgan Knowles
7 Jonny Lomax
8 Alex Walmsley
9 Daryl Clark
19 George Delaney

Leeds Rhinos Line up

1 Lachlan Miller
21 Alfie Edgell
3 Harry Newman
4 Ash Handley
23 Riley Lumb
18 Jake Connor
20 Jack Sinfield
10 Keenan Palasia
14 Jarrod O'Connor
8 Mikolaj Oledzki
12 James McDonnell
16 Morgan Gannon
28 Kallum Watkins
11 James Bentley
15 Sam Lisone
17 Cooper Jenkins
19 Tom Holroyd

Last updated 3 May 25 21:23:44

FT

⏹ The Saints fall to defeat against Leeds at Magic WKND 2025

Full time sponsored by Liverpool John Lennon Airport

79'
Goal
Lachlan Miller for Leeds Rhinos

Miller adds the kick.

78'
Try
Morgan Gannon for Leeds Rhinos

The Rhinos go in following the dissent penalty, Gannon goes low and after a video ref check the try is given.

76'

Jack Smith judges a strip ball fine for Leeds, and then we give away a penalty for dissent.

75'

Welsby deals with a kick very well, under pressure too.

74'

Sent up as a no try. No try then confirmed.

74'

Cross goes in at the corner after second phase rugby from us, Sironen & Percival on the left pass between them, Murphy then offloads to to Sironen

The ball works to Whitby, he kicks, the ball goes back & Deon dives in

73'

Rhinos again with an error, inches off the line. Saints keep them out again, but need to get to the other end of the field.

71'

Leeds on the charge play the ball incorrectly, inches off the line.

Murphy is back on, Mbye too for Knowles.

70'

The Rhinos look to have knocked on by their own 40m but nothing given, play goes on.

Saints scramble back and stop their attack.

😇 4-11 🦏

68'

Welsby takes a high kick very well, but Rhinos are penalised for a flop on him.

🔄 Paasi off, Walmsley on.

67'

Saints try pick up the pace in the ruck, Sironen’s offload to Welsby is late and Jack knocks on.

65'

Both sides trade errors, Lomax from us looking to play on the right, then Leeds in the middle offloading.

64'

Rhinos think they are in on the left wing, but following a video ref check Lumb has a boot in touch.

Whitley putting the pressure there.

😇 4-11 🦏

62'
Drop Goal
Jack Sinfield for Leeds Rhinos

The penalty following the sin bin allows Leeds into our half, and Sinfield elects to kick a one-pointer.

😇 4-11 🦏

61'
Yellow Card
Lewis Murphy for Saints

61′ Video ref ruled no try.

The referee has then given Lewis Murphy a yellow card for how he competed in the air to try catch the ball. 🟨

😇 4-10 🦏

61'

Welsby goes high with a cross-field kick, the ball looks to have been knocked on by Leeds, kicked on by Saints and potentially we were impeded from scoring it.

Video ref called upon for how we restart.

60'

🔄 Walmsley and Delaney off, Lees and Paasi on.

😇 4-10 🦏

59'

Miller jumps onto a Welsby kick to stop our attacking threat for now.

57'

Rhinos challenge the call of a knock on off a Whitby kick, challenge is unsuccessful.

Saints ball. 20m out.

😇 4-10 🦏

57'

The Saints keep the ball alive, pulling it left and right, and back again. Whitby kicks into Leeds hands, they knock on and we will have another go at them, close to the line.

56'

Saints penalty, Percival taken out off the ball.

55'

By the Leeds line, Sironen gets an offload off to Clark, and on the last Lomax is cut down.

Rhinos then knock on, on the next play. Chaos.

53'

Bentley knocks on by the 40m line.

52'

Sailor gets on the end of a big Connor hit-out pass and races away 70m, shaking off a Handley ankle tap before then being stopped.

The Rhinos get a let off, with a Saints knock on two plays later.

😇 4-10 🦏

50'

Welsby fends off a defender and then kicks ahead, the ball bounces in field and out 25m from the Rhinos line.

48'

Whitby misses the kick.

47'
Try
Matt Whitley for Saints

47′ 🏎WHITLEY

Finally, the Saints get some goodball position and Matt on the move shakes off two Rhinos and then dummies a third to go in for our first points.

😇 4-10 🦏

47'

Leeds give away a penalty, too much faff in the tackle and we move into the Leeds half.

46'

More pressure by our line, but we do well to keep the Rhinos out.

45'

Whitby punts downfield, we continue to struggle to get into the opposition half.

44'

Saints did well, holding the Rhinos out and now look to get out of our own twenty.

43'

Rhinos play off the cuff, creating openings, a kick is then batted back twice by them and Murphy tries to kick it ahead to chase, reset the tackle count. 15m out.

40'

⏯ Kick-off of the second half.

😇 0-10 🦏

Knowles has ran out onto the field, so he has passed his HIA.

⏸ The Saints are down by ten at the break in Newcastle

Half time sponsored by Liverpool John Lennon Airport

40'

Saints finally challenge by the Rhinos line as the half nears its end, Sironen held up over the line.

Whitby on the last goes for a big cross-field kick to the left, but no one claims it.

38'

Sinfield knocks on in tackle. Saints will get a good chance to attack.

37'

A good bit of shape, the Saints run it on the last trying to unlock Murphy but Lewis goes for an offload and it lands in Leeds hands.

35'

Miller looks for a quick pass off the scrum, but it is a poor pass and goes out again by the sidelines.

34'

Agony again, Percival knocks on in tackle.

🔄 Knowles off with a HIA, Clark comes on.

34'

Better D from the S-Men, Leeds held back in their own half.

33'

Whitby from deep in our half tries a spiral bomb, but Miller deals with it off the bounce fine.

😇 0-10 🦏

32'

Welsby’s first work back at fullback is dealing with a good Rhinos kick, which just stays in the field off play, in-goal.

31'

It looks like Lomax goes into the halves with Whitby, Sailor to the right wing, Welsby to fullback.

😇 0-10 🦏

30'

🔄 Bennison off, Lomax on.

😇 0-10 🦏

29'

Following the penalty, the Rhinos get another after Knowles is judged to have tackled dangerously. The kicking tee comes on.

From near the middle and 25m out, Miller misses the kick though.

27'

A wild minute, the Rhinos kick ahead off a rogue pass and Sailor catches it.

Sailor is then judged to have impeded Connor out of the tackle, penalty against St.Helens.

25'

Looking to try catch Leeds out, we pull the ball out right to Bennison, but he is taken in touch early in a set.

Let off for Leeds.

24'

St.Helens get a penalty, our first, for a high shot. A big kick takes us into goodball position, the first time really in the half.

23'

A try saver by Sailor, following the unsuccessful challenge, Rhinos pull it left and Tristan forced Lumb out of touch, saving a score.

22'

22′ Captain’s Challenge by the Saints, Rhinos threw a loose pass that went to ground, Whitby leapt on it and a knock-on against Saints was given.

Challenge unsuccessful.

🔄 Lees off, Walmsley on.

22'

That won’t help… A Sironen knock-on in a tackle, gifting Leeds the ball back, 25m out.

21'

Rhinos making more metres than us as we go into the second quarter of this game. Saints need to wrestle some control of the field back.

19'

Great take by Sailor off a high, hanging Connor bomb.

18'

Saints won’t make it pay, Percival judged to have knocked on at the play of the ball.

17'

Rhinos go to the edges once more, left this time but Handley’s flick pass is knocked on by Lumb.

15'
Goal
Lachlan Miller for Leeds Rhinos

Miller adds the kick to his own try.

14'
Try
Lachlan Miller for Leeds Rhinos

The Rhinos hit their right edge and run into space, Sailor slips as he looks to cut off Miller, but the Rhinos fullback goes in to score.

12'

🔄 Paasi off, Delaney on.

😇 0-4 🦏

11'

Welsby tries a punt downfield, Rhinos controlling the territory at present.

10'

Miller goes for a big hit-out pass to Lumb, but it’s far too strong and no good.

9'

Agony. The Saints try to shape up early in a set, but Sailor can’t take a pass cleanly, knocking on.

8'

That might just do it, a Leeds knock on, 35m off our line.

7'

Saints are held inside their own half, looking to turn the pressure around.

6'

More space on the Rhinos’ left is exploited early, allowing them to march us down field.

Connor chips to the corner, Bennison collects it well.

5'

Miller misses the kick.

3'
Try
Riley Lumb for Leeds Rhinos

The Rhinos go in and out on their left edge by the halfway line, and then Handley kicks ahead to Riley Lumb with the bounce of the ball perfect for him to score the opener

😇 0-4 🦏

2'

Our first attack ends with Welsby on the run, kicking ahead and Miller picks up the grubber and Jack hits him immediately, again by the 20m line.

1'

Brilliant defensive start, the Rhinos held inside their own 20m.

Kick Off

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