Clinical St Helens punish sloppy Leeds

Betfred Super League

St. Helens (8) 18

Trys: Feldt 3; Dagnall; Sailor;

Leeds Rhinos (0) 4

A shoddy Leeds Rhinos performance gave St. Helens a well-deserved Super League victory.

Before Deon Cross extended Saints’ lead with a daring over for the game’s first try on the stroke of half-time, Kyle Feldt kicked two penalty goals for the home side in the opening 25 minutes.

Riley Lumb’s try, which was his 10th of the season, was a positive one after the break, and Leeds made improvements.

However, the Rhinos’ momentum was hampered by a string of handling errors in the sweltering heat, and tries from Owen Dagnall and Tristan Sailor provided the winning result for the Saints side that was to suffer from injury.

After falling to their first six games, Leeds are still in third place with 20 points, while St. Helens is just two points behind.

When the sides met last month, Rhinos won 17-4, but in Lancashire they were below par from the beginning.

Harry Newman and James Bentley both committed high tackles, which reflected Brad Arthur’s side’s error-filled first period, which gave Feldt two penalty goals.

The veteran winger’s brilliant tackle by player-of-the-match Harry Robertson prevented Leeds’ only real chance in the first half, which was a Ryan Hall intercept.

And Tristan Sailor released Cross, whose clever show-and-go tricked Hall and gave a clear path to the line when Leeds coughed up possession in their own 20 shortly after.

Rhinos, who had a stronger second half, found much-needed rest at half-time.

After a magnificent Lachie Miller break, the Australian full-back dodged several tackles before moving the ball wide and dotted down, where Lumb did.

With a darting effort, Jarrod O’Connor beat Leeds, and as the game progressed, St. Helens struck back and forth as the momentum grew.

Deft hands from Jonny Lomax and Sailor launched Dagnall into space from the back of a scrum. In two starts, Feldt converted and scored his second try, taking the lead 10-point, off his left foot.

Leeds never really looked like bridging that gap, finishing only 69% of their sets and making 16 errors.

Paasi, Delaney, Stephens, and Burns make the changes.

Miller, Hall, Newman, Handley, Lumb, Croft, Palasia, O’Connor, Oledski, McDonnell, Gannon, and Watkins are Leeds Rhinos.

Interchanges: Smith, Holroyd, Bentley, and Lisone