St Helens recorded a sixth consecutive Super League victory to set up a compelling three-way battle to finish top of the table, after defeating a Wakefield side who are favourites to be relegated to the Championship.
Paul Wellens’s team were worthy winners in West Yorkshire to move level on points at the summit with Wigan and Catalans Dragons with just three rounds remaining. In contrast, Wakefield remain bottom, two points adrift of Castleford heading into the final matches, though Castleford’s heavy defeat by Warrington on Saturday has narrowed the points difference between the two.
Two St Helens tries in the six minutes before half-time enabled them to open up a 14-point lead at the interval despite an enormous effort from Wakefield, who have improved in the second half of the season. But the balance of power was always with the reigning champions, and they closed out proceedings in the second half despite not being at their best.
“I’ve got mixed emotions,” their coach said. “There are lessons to be learned but this is a tough place to come, so I’m pleased we’ve got that result.” Early tries from Jonny Lomax and Tommy Makinson put the visitors 10-6 ahead midway through the first half after Matty Ashurst responded for Wakefield.
The hosts piled the pressure on the Saints for a prolonged period and were arguably the better side as half-time approached, but they could not find the killer play to unlock the Saints’ defence. That proved significant as the visitors struck twice prior to the interval against the run of play, with James Roby and Jon Bennison both crossing to ensure St Helens went into the break in control.
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“It’s hard to fault anyone for effort, but we need to work on a bit of resilience,” Wakefield’s coach, Mark Applegarth, said. “We came up with four errors that they scored off the back of, and the key word we keep coming back to is composure. If we fix that up, we’ll get a couple of wins for sure.”
Lee Kershaw scored twice in the second half for Wakefield, tries which could be important if the relegation run-in goes down to points difference. But the Saints’ quality was always likely to shine through, and they managed to avoid any late scares as tries from Makinson and Lewis Dodd as the hour mark approached enabled them to see the final quarter out hassle-free.
