St Helens go second with hard-fought win over Hull

Betfred Super League

St. Helens (8) 16

Trys: Knowles; Bye; Feldt (4)

Hull FC (6) 10

Morgan Knowles and Moses Mbye’s successful tries helped St. Helens defeat Hull FC and move into second place in the Super League.

After seven minutes, Knowles’ run from halfway gave them the lead, and Kyle Feldt’s kick put them 8-0 up.

However, Hull were only 8-6 at the break when Davy Litten seized on a loose ball to score.

With Hull back in sixth place, Saints moved their 10th straight home win over the Black and Whites, placing them second in the points standings with Leeds Rhinos and Wigan Warriors, who both have 32 points but still have a game in hand.

Less than five minutes into the game, Jed Cartwright from Hull was forced off with an injury, and St. Helens won thanks to Knowles’ burst through Jordan Rapana’s tackle halfway to beat Zak Hardaker to the line.

After the video referee ruled out Matt Whitley’s try for a knock-on in the build-up, Mbye then took a break, was tackled high, and Feldt kicked the penalty to make it 8-0.

After the break, Feldt landed his own attempt to make Saints 10-6 before Hardaker missed a penalty that would have brought the game level.

The hosts then took control, and Jack Welsby’s last tackle, which they ran, was perfect, breaking the defense and scoring Mbye’s first try of the season.

Eight minutes later, Aidan Sezer’s flawless pass sent Martin into the left corner, and both teams were in a close second.

Paul Wellens, the head coach of St. Helens, told BBC Radio Merseyside:

With what we have coming up, we’ve had some fun and scored some fantastic tries. However, I felt we needed a game like tonight.

It’s difficult to find points against Hull because they are a really gritty team. They fight well and are very good at defending one another.

“But we’ve already won a tight game where we put too much pressure on ourselves at times.”

John Cartwright, the coach of Hull FC, told BBC Radio Humberside:

“Physically, I thought they weighed a little more than we did, and we struggled to leave our own end,” she said.

We were confident at half-time, and sometimes you deserve a little luck when you play that bravely, but tonight wasn’t.

Lomax, Batchelor, Paasi, and Delaney exchange.

Hull FC features Carleton, Cartwright, Lane, Cartwright, Cartwright, Lane, and Fash. Hardaker, Barron, Briscoe, Litten, Martin, Rapana, Sezer, Ese’ese, Bourouh, Aydin, and

Chamberlain, Cust, Ashworth, and Laidlaw are the exchanges.