ST HELENS

CHRIS CHESTER said he was “hurting like hell” after Wakefield’s hopes of finishing in the top four were reduced to rubble by ruthless St Helens.

Victory for unfancied Trinity yesterday would have clinched third place and secured an extra home game in the Super 8s.

But St Helens were simply too hot for Chester’s men and romped to a win that continued their renaissance under Australian head coach Justin Holbrook.

Wakefield began in fourth and knowing they could afford to lose by 14 points to stay above Salford – but Saints had other ideas.

They ran amok in the first half, registering tries from Danny Richardson, James Roby, Tommy Makinson and Regan Grace.

Wakefield, who scored early on through Saints old-boy Matty Ashurst, steadied the ship after the break and tries from Scott Grix and Mason Caton-Brown had them briefly back in the top four.

But Saints moved through the gears again and further scores from Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Zeb Taia and a Richardson drop-goal killed off Wakefield. Chester said: “We are hurting like hell because we’ve not just thrown away fourth place but third place as well.

“But I’m also proud of my players because we’ve achieved something nobody thought we could do – get in the top six.

“In the grand scheme of things, we’ve got to be happy because we’ve shown some progression this year.”

Holbrook was with his side’s left delighted exhilaratingly high-tempo first-half display. “We’ve put some wins together and shown we are right in the mix – today was another sign of that,” said the Saints boss.

“The boys are really enjoying themselves and the first half was very pleasing because we really turned up.

“Now we’ve clawed our way back, we cannot afford to relax. I was confident in the side when I got here in May and nothing has changed.”