The Hull sides solidified their positions at the head of the league, while Huddersfield’s woes continued and defending champions Wigan were stunned for a second weak in a row.
Round 5 Results
Salford Red Devils 23 – 10 Huddersfield Giants
Contrary to their characteristic fast starts in their first four games this season, Huddersfield failed to match the intensity of a Salford side hungry for their first win of the Super League season. The disparity presented early with Esan Marsters swiping Tui Lolohea away to go over in the corner with a roar.
Not only weak on the edge, Huddersfield were punctured through the middle later in the first half with Chris Hill offloading for Harvey Wilson to finish off and a third – expansive – try from their own half soon after put the home side 16-0 up at half time. Nikorima – on fire – backed up his first half try with another in the second and with the game all but gone, Huddersfield landed two consolations of their own through Adam Swift and Tui Lolohea.
Salford Red Devils
Tries: Jayden Nikorima (2), Esan Marsters, Harvey Wilson
Goals: Ryan Brierley 3 (from 4)
Drop Goals: Ryan Brierley
Huddersfield Giants
Tries: Adam Swift, Tui Lolohea
Goals: Liam Sutcliffe 1 (from 2)
St Helens 12 – 14 Warrington Wolves
The local rivals battled out a thriller where the attack was as poor as the defence was good. Unsurprisingly, Chris Kendall wasn’t without error either and the scoring opened with a questionable penalty in front of the sticks converted by Mark Percival with ease.
Joe Philbin got on the board for Warrington before Marc Sneyd knocked over a penalty to put the visitors six ahead. The defences remained stout until a Morgan Knowles try and a Mark Percival conversion levelled the scores. The side exchanged scores in the middle part of the second half to produce a tense ending with Saints chasing the game.
St Helens
Tries: Morgan Knowles, Dayon Sambou
Goals: Mark Percival 2 (from 3)
Warrington Wolves
Tries: George Williams, Matthew Ashton
Goals: Marc Sneyd 3 (from 3)
Wakefield Trinity 12 – 16 Hull FC
Hull FC continued their excellent start to the season, moving into third with a hard-fought win at Belle Vue. For the second week in a row, Lewis Martin scored the decisive try to seal the game for the Airlie Birds after two entertaining scores from Herman Ese’ese and Ed Chamberlain prior.
Wakefield struggled to keep the pressure on after opening the scoring and stretching out to an eight-point lead after 10 minutes and now drop out of the top six with the loss.
Wakefield Trinity
Tries: Cameron Scott, Caleb Uele
Goals: Mason Lino 2 (from 3)
Hull FC
Tries: Herman Ese’ese, Ed Chamberlain, Lewis Martin
Goals: Aidan Sezer 2 (from 3)
Castleford Tigers 4 – 26 Catalans Dragons
A dreary day at the Jungle didn’t dampen the Dragons’ enthusiasm, and a gritty performance saw them keep Castleford scoreless for the best part of 70 minutes to claim a first away win this season.
Tries from Tevita Pangai Junior and Alrix Da Costa exploited Castleford’s deficiency through the middle, while the more finessed tranche of the side had Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet produce a distance perfect kick through for Fouad Yaha to dot down in the corner after the half time break.
Sam Tomkins added a try of his own, alongside two first half penalties and three conversions, before landing the trifecta with a sin-binning on the stroke of full time – but the home side couldn’t add to their 69th minute Innes Senior consolation try with the ensuing penalty
Castleford Tigers
Tries: Innes Senior
Catalans Dragons
Tries: Sam Tomkins, Fouad Yaha, Alrix Da Costa, Tevita Pangai Junior
Goals: Sam Tomkins 5 (from 6)
Leeds Rhinos 12 – 10 Wigan Warriors
Wigan couldn’t get back on the horse after being knocked out of the Challenge Cup last week, starting slow with an error fielding a high ball at the back from Jacob Douglas leading to a facile try for Riley Lumb. The Cherry and Whites remedied the scoreline on the stroke of half time with a well-judged kick from Harry Smith for Liam Marshall to cut the lead to 6-4.
They looked to be in control with Bevan French putting the visitors ahead off the back of block shape down the Wigan left edge. A Harry Smith conversion made it 10-6 in favour of Wigan, but they failed to hold on to the lead with appalling kick defence again – this time from Liam Marshall – allowing Ryan Hall to assist Jack Sinfield with a fortuitous header. A Jake Connor conversion ultimately sealed the game for Leeds, who broke into the top six with their third win of the season.
Leeds Rhinos
Tries: Jack Sinfield, Riley Lumb
Goals: Jake Connor 2 (from 3)
Wigan Warriors
Tries: Bevan French, Liam Marshall
Goals: Harry Smith 1 (from 2)
Hull KR 30 – 0 Leigh Leopards
A drubbing to end the week and a game to forget for Leigh, who served up an egg in the top of the table clash. Hull KR made it five from five at their fortress Sewell Group Craven Park, with Oliver Gildart, Kelepi Tanginoa and Mikey Lewis (2) tries all but icing the game by half time.
They kept the foot down and extended their lead to 24 points in the second half before their offloading game proved unplayable and provided a try down the edge for Tom Davies. An impeccable performance by the league leaders to keep Leigh to nil.
Hull Kingston Rovers
Tries: Mikey Lewis (2), Kelepi Tanginoa, Oliver Gildart, Tom Davies
Goals: Mikey Lewis 5 (from 6)
Leigh Leopards
