A win for Hull FC on the road.
Harvey Barron scored his first senior hat-trick for Hull FC.
Hull FC got their first win at St Helens in nine years on Thursday night, defeating the Saints 32-18 to claim the Steve Prescott Cup – and it was nothing less than they deserved.
Doing it tough, Hull have had little to shout about this year, but they were fine tuned on Merseyside, running out comfortable winners in the end after a first senior hat-trick for winger Harvey Barron. The winger was immense for the Black and Whites, continuing a fine run of individual form.
Elsewhere, there were mammoth stints from ex-Saints Joe Batchelor and James Bell, who haunted their former club on their first return since moves to East Yorkshire. But as cliché as it is, it was a team effort from Hull, who posted some eye-catching tries and who fronted up when they needed to earn their sixth Super League victory of the year, and in the process, ease fears of a first-ever bottom placed finish.
For Saints, it’s another nail to their play-off coffin, with the club set to finish outside of the finals position for the first time in the competitions history. But take nothing away from Hull, who showed spirit throughout and nailed their moments for a fully deserved win.
Back on the road, Andy Last made three changes to his side, with Lewis Martin, Herman Ese’ese, and Arthur Romano coming in for Davy Litten, Lennon Clark, and Hugo Salabio. And it was a nightmare start for Hull, who made an error with their first touch as Logan Moy failed to deal with a Saints kick. The home side then scored straight from the scrum through Lewis Murphy, who finished out wide.
However, Hull stuck at it and soon hit back on their first attack. They went wide to Barron, with the winger finishing strong in the corner. Saints edged ahead with a penalty goal, but it was Hull who kept knocking on the door. They had a try ruled out as Herman Ese’ese was penalised for double movement, but they soon got their reward as Lewis Martin scored in corner, cutting back inside and powering over the line after Jake Arthur’s delicious long pass.
Unfortunately, Hull couldn’t sustain that lead, with Saints hitting back through Jack Welsby, who took an inside pass to break the line and round Moy to score. But Hull, on the stroke of the hooter, had the final say of the half, with Barron taking Aidan Sezer’s kick on the bounce to finish strong again.
That put Hull level at half-time, despite scoring three tries to two, with Zak Hardaker given no favours with the position of his conversions, but it was at least what the visitors deserved.
The second half saw Hull get their just rewards. First, Barron scored his hat-trick try, taking Hardaker’s pass to finish out wide again on a neatly executed shift play, before Cade Cust stormed over from dummy half.
Saints thought they halved the deficit thorough Harry Robertson, but the try, given on field, was soon chalked off by the video ref after a clear obstruction. Hull then surged up the other end, and added a penalty goal as Cust was taken high to extend the lead to 14 points.
The home side won the ball back from the short kick-off and soon scored through Robertson, who grounded his own kick to restore some home, but that hope was crushed as Bell picked up a loose ball to race away in front of the delighted travelling Hull fans – and seal the win.
Teams
St Helens Starting XIII: 1. Jack Welsby; 26. Jacob Douglas, 6. Tristan Sailor, 28. Jake Davies, 20. Lewis Murphy; 3. Harry Robertson, 31. Jackson Hastings; 35. Daniel Suluka-Fifita, 30. Tom Humphreys, 8. Alex Walmsley; 37. Billy Keeley, 12. Shane Wright; 22. Joe Shorrocks.
Interchange: 14. Jacob Host, 17. George Whitby, 38. Matty Evans, 39. Chris Matagi. 18th Man: 41. Jack Campbell
Hull Starting XIII: 24. Logan Moy; 2. Harvey Barron, 4. Zak Hardaker, 19. Tom Briscoe, 5. Lewis Martin; 6. Jake Arthur, 7. Aidan Sezer; 8. Herman Ese’ese, 9. Amir Bourouh, 10. Harvie Hill; 11. Joe Batchelor, 39. Ethan O’Neill; 15. James Bell.
Interchange: 14. Cade Cust, 20. Yusuf Aydin, 21. Arthur Romano, 40. Max Wood. 18th Player: 26. Hugo Salabio
Scorers
St Helens Tries: Murphy, Welsby, Robertson. Goals: Hastings 3/4
Hull Tries: Barron 3, Martin, Cust, Bell. Goals: Hardaker 4/6, Sezer 0/1
Scoring System: 6-0, 6-6, 8-6, 8-10, 14-10, 14-14, HT, 14-20, 14-26, 14-28, 18-28, 18-32, FT
Referee: Liam Rush
Attendance: TBC