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07/03/08
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Knowsley Road
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R.Silverwood
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St Helens
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30 - 29
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Matty Smith landed a magnificent 79th-minute penalty to hand St Helens
a 30-29 victory against Hull FC in an absorbing engage Super League
encounter at Knowsley Road.
Adam Dykes kicked a drop-goal in the 76th minute to put Peter Sharp’s
men 29-28 ahead but Smith capped an outstanding individual performance
with a late two-pointer to ensure Saints took the spoils.
Stand-in scrum-half Smith trained alongside Wayne Rooney in the junior
ranks at Everton but he opted for a career in rugby ahead of football.
He confirmed his rich promise with a try and five successful kicks to
break Hull’s hearts and reaffirm Saints’ status as the comeback kings
of engage Super League.
Hull arrived on Merseyside depleted by injury and having lost three of
their opening four games in a miserable start to the season. They were
missing Shaun Berrigan, Richard Horne, Garreth Carvell, Ewan Dowes, Lee
Radford, Willie Manu and Richard Whiting.
But they made a mockery of their lengthy casualty list and powered
ahead in the third minute when Dykes waltzed clear to cross the line.
Four minutes later they touched down again when hooker Danny Houghton
ploughed his way through to send the sizeable contingent of visiting
supporters into raptures.
Danny Tickle converted both tries to give Sharp’s men a 12-0 advantage
but St Helens soon woke up and produced a devastating response.
Saints were themselves desperately depleted with big names such as Sean
Long, Paul Sculthorpe, Nick Fozzard, Chris Flannery, Maurie Fa’asavalu
and Jason Cayless all on the sidelines.
However, they conjured a typically outstanding response which harvested two tries in four minutes.
First, a bewildering array of inter-passing in the 13th minute saw the
ball pass through five pairs of hands and culminated in Matt Gidley
sending Ade Gardner over in the right corner.
It was the Cumbrian’s 99th career try an it was soon one-way traffic in
St Helens’ favour and by the 17th minute Smith had touched down.
The scrum-half converted his own try but a penalty from Tickle extended
Hull’s lead by two points – only for a brilliant kick from Paul Wellens
to send Willie Talau clear for St Helens’ third try.
Shortly before the break, James Roby and Wellens combined to send
homegrown product Kyle Eastmond over to put St Helens in control at the
break.
Hull, to their immense credit, began the second half in the same fashion as they had began the first.
Within two minutes of the restart, they had claimed their third try of
the game as replacement Craig Hall plucked a dreadfully misplaced pass
from Saints stand-off Leon Pryce out of the air and ran 70 metres to
cross the line.
Three minutes later they equalled St Helens in the try-scoring stakes
as young stand-off Danny Washbrook capitalised on another error in the
home ranks by collecting possession and touching down in the right
corner.
Tickle landed the first try but could not add the extra for Hall’s
effort, yet the two quick scores gave Hull a slender 24-22 advantage.
And that was added to in the 67th minute when Kirk Yeaman pounced on a
kick from Dykes for a try which Tickle again failed to convert.
It proved costly as Roby touched down for a fifth try which Smith
converted and although Dykes’ late drop-goal encouraged hopes of a Hull
victory, Smith ensured Saints claimed victory with his late penalty. |
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| Tony, Sing, Byrne, Yeaman, Raynor, Washbrook, Dykes, Cusack, Houghton, King, G. Horne, Tickle, Lee. |
Wellens, Gardner, Gidley, Talau, Meli, Pryce, Smith, Hargreaves, Cunningham, Graham, Gilmour, Clough, Roby. |
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