SAINTS ALIVE!
Champions end Dragons’ winning streak to close gap at the top
St Helens Catalans
JULIE STOTT
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.
But Saints proved they are in no mood to give up their champions’ crown without a hell of a fight.
The Dragons had several key players out crocked, and picked up a handful of other injuries here, 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 cohesion but it was in terms of character going forward.
“Our young players were great. They could easily have been shellshocked after conceding some early tries but they showed character.” Catalans, stay top the table narrowly ahead of Saints on win points difference, but the destination of the League Leaders Shield is definitely now up in the air.
Saints coach Kristian Woolf (below) said: “It was not the greatest game of footy but we did what we had to do.
“Once we got on top and felt like we had won the game we dropped our intensity, and with that a bit of discipline which made for an ugly game.
“The positive is that we scored 34 points in really terrible conditions and came away with a good win.”
The youthful Dragons side, which included 12 homegrown players, needed to start well to tip the advantage away from the hosts and their vocal fans. Instead they opened disastrously, 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 fabulous footwork by winger Regan Grace.
Even at that stage, it looked an uphill battle for the French and McNamara admitted: “We didn’t make the greatest start. We conceded too many points but after that we showed character in abundance.
“We had nobody on our bench, because of injuries, for the last 20 minutes but we still found a way to keep moving which I am really pleased about.” 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, only for Saints to up their intensity.
Coote killed off any doubt with a try and his seventh goal, taking his personal tally to 18 points.
ST HELENS: Tries: Makinson, Dodd, Grace, Batchelor, Coote. Pens: Coote (2). Cons: Coote (5).
CATALANS: Tries: Laguerre, Goudemand. Cons: Maloney (2).