Lach’ and load COOTE INSPIRES SAINTS MARCH
LACHLAN COOTE led the charge as champions St Helens bared their teeth in ruthless style.
Catalans came into the game on the back of a club record 12-match winning League run, amid talk of title hopes.
But Saints proved they are in no mood to give up their champions’ crown without a hell of a fight, with Coote finishing the game with 18 points.
The Dragons had several key players out crocked, and picked up a handful of other injuries during the game, but there is no doubt that the bubble was burst on their hot streak.
Coach Steve McNamara said: “It was not a great performance in terms of our cohesion but it was in terms of our character going forward.
“Our young players were great. They could easily have been shell-shocked after conceding some early tries but they showed lots of character.” Catalans still top the table, narrowly ahead of Saints, but the destination of the League Leaders
Shield is now up in the air.
Saints coach
Kristian Woolf said: “It was not the greatest game of footy but we did what we had to do.
“The positive is we scored 34 points in terrible conditions and we came away with a good win.” The youthful Dragons side, which included 12 homegrown players, had t o start well to tip the advantage away from the home side and their vocal fans. Instead they opened poorly, leaking two tries in the opening eight minutes from Tommy Makinson and Lewis Dodd. As the rain lashed down, Saints pounced for another try in the 17th minute thanks to some fabulous footwork by Welsh wing Regan Grace. Even at that stage it looked an uphill battle for the French side and McNamara admitted: “We didn’t make the greatest start. We conceded too many points but after that we showed character in abundance.”
Young half back Cezar Rouge marked his debut with a superb pass to put fellow youngster Mathieu Laguerre over and halt the Saints charge.
But the Dragons put themselves under more pressure when Joe Chan was sin binned either side of half-time for an off-the-ball tackle.
Joe Batchelor stretched Saints’ lead, on the back of more good work by Jonny Lomax, but a yellow card for Sione Mata’utia for a late tackle gave Catalans another sniff.
Mickael Goudemand took advantage, pouncing for a touchdown, but Coote (left) killed off any doubt with a try and his seventh goal.