Saints beat Valkyrie to reach Challenge Cup final

Betfred Women’s Challenge Cup semi-final

St Helens (2) 10

Try: Hoyle Goals: Gaskin 2, Harris

York Valkyrie (0) 6

St Helens reached their fifth consecutive Women’s Challenge Cup final with victory in a tight, error-strewn semi-final win over York Valkyrie.

Saints will face Wigan Warriors at Wembley on 7 June after a try from Shona Hoyle and the trusty kicking of Faye Gaskin saw them home at the Totally Wicked Stadium.

Reigning Women’s Super League champions Valkyrie, who have now lost to Saints in the last four for the past three years, hit back through Rhiannon Marshall but Saints kept them at arm’s length.

That means Saints, who lost to Valkyrie in the Grand Final last year, stay on course for a record-extending fifth consecutive triumph in the competition.

This meeting of two teams who have shared the major honours between them in recent seasons was always going to be tight, with Saints not conceding any points in their three matches leading up to the semi-final, and Valkyrie only having one try scored against them in their three.

All they had to show for their efforts at half-time was a Gaskin penalty following a high tackle by Valkyrie, and Gaskin missed a subsequent two-pointer following a similar offence to ensure it remained tight at the break.

Valkyrie, Women’s Super League champions for the past two seasons, came out of the blocks quickly in the second half but a Marshall penalty hit the posts, and Saints gave themselves breathing space after weathering the storm.

Hoyle burst through two tacklers to touch down, and with Gaskin making no mistake with a difficult conversion, Saints opened an eight-point gap.

Saints did their best to allow their opponents back into the game with three knock-ons deep in their own territory as they played into the sun, but Valkyrie failed to capitalise until the last one.

Piling pressure on the home team’s line, Marshall threw a dummy and burst over the line from close range to set up a tense finale.

St Helens: Salihi; Hook, E Stott, Hardcastle, McGifford; Harris, Gaskin; Crowl, Casey, D. Stott, Hoyle, Rudge, Cunningham.

Interchanges: Whitfield, Mottershead, Sutherland, McColm.

York Valkyrie: Dagger; Partington, Renouf, Rampton, Kershaw; Rihari, Williamson; Brennan, Peach, Parker, Andrade, Wood, Bell.