Challenge Cup: St Helens 23-18 Huddersfield Giants

Regan Grace and Mark Percival provided the tries for Saints to overcome Huddersfield

Regan Grace scored a hat-trick as St Helens fought back to see off a dogged Huddersfield Giants and secure their place in the Challenge Cup semi-finals.

Giants scored at both ends of the first 40 to lead 12-10 at the break, with Michael Lawrence and Darnell McIntosh crossing and Aidan Sezer converting.

Grace added to his and Percival's first-half try, as Saints finally went in front before Theo Fages' drop goal.

McIntosh's second try made it nervy but Grace's treble decided the tie.

Saints have not lost a game so far this season but this was as close as they have come to being unpinned, as Giants showed signs of life to cause problems, with Sezer creating opportunities with a sharp kicking game in particular for Lawrence's try.

Their forwards stood up to the power and relentlessness of the Saints pack, with Luke Yates and Lawrence matching the likes of Alex Walmsley and off-the-bench Agnatius Paasi up top.

However, the grind of the Saints side, added to the class of their star backline, just about got the job done for boss Kristian Woolf.

They have not won the competition since 2008, having lost to Warrington most recently in 2019.

Huddersfield head coach Ian Watson can be heartened by their continued improvement, despite another defeat and the end of their cup run.

St Helens head coach Kristian Woolf:

"I'm really proud of the second-half effort. It's hard to lose a winger [Tommy Makinson] in virtually the first carry of the game and then Louie [McCarthy-Scarsbrook] had to go off.

"It meant some blokes had to carry more responsibility and play more minutes and that's why I'm so proud.

"We had to think and adjust on the run and I thought Robes [James Roby] was outstanding tonight.

"It looks like Tommy's hurt his foot again. There is certainly no question about bringing him back too early. He trained fully for more than a week.

"But certainly there's a bit of a drama and we will have to have a look at it."

Huddersfield boss Ian Watson:

"It's a tough one for us. I thought we were there but we were just unpicked by a quality team. I thought we put ourselves in a strong position at half-time but we needed to show a bit more belief.

"We've set some standards and showed we can compete with the top teams. That's two games against the best team in the competition.

"It's got to be the minimum standard, it's got to be like that week in, week out now for us as a team."

St Helens: Coote; Makinson, Naiqama, Percival, Grace; Lomax, Fages; Walmsley, Roby, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Thompson, Mata'utia, Batchelor.

Interchanges: Amor, Pa'asi, Welsby, Smith.

Huddersfield Giants: Gaskell; McGillvary, Leutele, McQueen, McIntosh; Cogger, Sezer, Yates, Cunningham, Lawrence, Edwards, Jones, Greenwood.

Replacements: O'Brien, English, Wood, Trout.

Referee: James Child (RFL)

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