WAKEFIELD
JAMES ROBY scored on his return from England duty as St Helens claimed a 10th successive victory to surge six points clear at the Super League summit.
The long-serving captain and team-mates Mark Percival, Tommy Makinson and Jonny Lomax all featured in the midseason Test win over New Zealand in Denver a week ago.
They returned to the UK on Monday and were thrown straight back into action by coach Justin Holbrook, whose side overcame a dogged Wakefield outfit who had beaten St Helens on their own turf last season. The quartet allowed Holbrook to field his strongest line-up last night and it paid off although visitors Wakefield got mighty close in the end.
There is much to admire about St Helens this season and their form has encouraged hopes of a first Super League title since 2014. Moreover, it has also seen them firmly regain their tag as the game’s great entertainers and, on the evidence of this latest win, it was easy to see why.
Saints’ last defeat was against Wakefield in April but they have not looked back since and were certainly too good for Chris Chester’s side here.
Trinity had won three of their last four games in the competition, including a 44-22 win over Widnes in their last outing. But Wakefield trailed in the 13th minute when St Helens worked the ball out to winger Regan Grace from a scrum and his pace took him past a leadenfooted Trinity defence.
It was Grace’s 10th Super League try of the season and scrum-half Danny Richardson added the conversion.
Five minutes later, Wakefield winger Tom Johnstone profited from a misplaced pass from Saints centre Ryan Morgan to score from close range. Liam Finn converted to make it 6-6, but the hosts responded in style as a delightful handling sequence sent Lomax scampering clear.
Richardson converted again and then got on the scoresheet himself as Saints built up a 20-6 half-time lead.
Yet the response from Wakefield in the second half was to be applauded and prompted a remarkable momentum shift.
Three minutes after the interval, Trinity claimed their second try of the match when