A dominant display from the Saints saw them beat Hull FC 45-0 in the second game of Magic Weekend. Hull showed very few signs of attacking play against a St Helens side who looked better than their current 7th place in the Super League table.
AN EVEN START
After a fairly even first 10 minutes, it looked like this was going to be a tight encounter. Saints had a burst in attack and then Hull bounced back with a break from Griffin down the right edge, only to stumble out of touch due to good defence.
This was about as good as it got for Hull.
ST HELEN’S ENGINE STARTS RUNNING
The first try came in the 15th minute; Walmsley made a short burst over the line with Percival converting. Shortly after, Morgan caught a superb Matty Smith kick in the in-goal to make it 12-0 after the conversion.
Another try from Saints with Knowles adding the points this time. Towards the end of the half, Hull had a bit more possession but once again, nothing was coming off for the Black and Whites.
Matty Smith added a drop goal just before half time to make it 19-0 at the half time hooter.
Saints started the second half as they finished the second with Walmsley adding his second try.
Hull had a little bit of luck on their side when they were granted a scrum after Manu stole the ball from Walmsley but the decision was a knock on by the Saints prop. Unfortunately from this, Hull missed the chance to get into the game with Manu throwing a low pass to Tuimavave who knocked on.
From that point on, Hull gave up. Tries from Mccarthy-Scarsbrook, Makinson and a brace from Grace gave Saints a well deserved 45-0 victory in front of their new coach, Justin Holbrook.
SAINTS SEASON STARTS NOW
Incoming coach Holbrook will be wondering why on earth they need a new coach after that performance. There are still areas to improve on for the Saints but now is the time where we could see a run for them, and consequently moving their way up the table.
IT CAN’T GET ANY WORSE FOR HULL
If the Black and Whites want to be at Old Trafford in October, they can’t afford another big loss in the league. To keep up there with Castleford in the table, they need to pick themselves up, dust themselves off and now forget about this loss. Today, they looked out of ideas in both attack and defence which is worrying but with the return of Ellis, Fonua and Connor to come, things should hopefully improve next week.
POST MATCH MEDIA
Lee Radford: “I think the result was well deserved by St Helens… We threw jabs and they threw bombs and that’s probably the best way I can describe it.”
Justin Holbrook: “My job was to take the pressure off them and stop them trying too hard- just try to make them relax.”
FINAL SCORE
Hull FC (0) 0
St Helens (19) 45
Tries: Walmsley 2, Morgan, Knowles, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Makinson, Grace 2
Goals: Percival 6
Drop-goals: Smith
MATCH DETAILS
Hull FC: Shaul, Michaels, Tuimavave, Turgut, Griffin, Kelly, Sneyd, Taylor, Houghton, Watts, Manu, Minichiello, Green.
Replacements: Fash, Bowden, Thompson, Washbrook.
St Helens: Makinson, Swift, Percival, Morgan, Grace, Fages, Smith, Walmsley, Roby, Amor, Taia, Wilkin, Knowles.
Replacements: Douglas, Thompson, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Lee.
Referee: Robert Hicks
Venue: St James’ Park, Newcastle
Date/Time: Saturday 20th May 2017- 4.45pm GMT
