Super League: St Helens 24-10 Hull FC - Saints extend lead at top of table

Tommy Makinson scored 16 of St Helens' 24 points against Hull FC

St Helens bounced back from their Challenge Cup semi-final defeat as they beat Hull FC to extend their lead at the top of Super League.

Tommy Makinson touched down early for Saints before Darnell McIntosh responded after 30 minutes.

Jack Welsby put the hosts back ahead, but they had James Bell sent to the sin-bin just after the restart.

It did not affect Saints as Jonny Lomax and Makinson crossed before McIntosh's late reply for Hull.

Victory moved Kristian Woolf's men two points clear of second-placed Wigan Warriors in the table, with Hull's defeat, their fifth of the season, keeping them in fifth spot.

Saints made one change from the side that lost 20-18 to Wigan in a thrilling Challenge Cup last-four tie, with Bell coming in. Hull, though, left out captain Luke Gale despite him completing a two-match ban.

Hull suffered a blow within just three minutes when Brad Fash was knocked out following a clash with Matty Lees, leading to the forward being taken to hospital.

Saints' opener came after some good link-up play from James Roby, who found Konrad Hurrell and he teed up Makinson to power over at the corner.

Hull would have responded sooner were it not for a try-saving effort from Welsby, who collected a high ball before Connor Wynne could break down the left wing.

McIntosh got them back on level terms after he worked his way onto a well-weighted grubber kick to the corner from Jake Connor, but Welsby weaved his way through to give Saints the half-time lead.

Even with Bell sent to the sin-bin soon after the break for a dangerous tackle on Hull centre Carlos Tuimavave, they never looked under pressure and Lomax and Makinson tries sealed their success.

St Helens boss Kristian Woolf:

"It was exactly the kind of game we needed after last week, we needed a game that excited us, a game where we had to show our character which we did.

"We're a very good second-half team, we back our fitness and our intensity to go for 80 minutes.

"I thought our defence was back to being close to its best tonight. We had probably fallen away from that the last couple of weeks.

"That can happen but thought we got back to that tonight and I thought we did a really good job with 12 men."

Hull FC head coach Brett Hodgson told BBC Radio Humberside:

"[On Brad Fash's injury] You don't like to see it with any player at any club and it was a nasty incident in terms of how it looked for Brad. Hopefully he'll be okay and we can continue with him.

"[On whether it changed their approach] Substantially. But that's part of the game. Sometimes you lose a player and you've got to adapt. We adapted okay but unfortunately we had to change a couple of things.

"Across the board we had big efforts and we didn't lack that today. We did lack in cohesion. The first half took it out of us then the second half, when they went down to 12 men I thought we lacked the ability to build any pressure at that time and that hurt us but we will learn our lessons."

St Helens: Welsby, Makinson, Hurrell, Mata'utia, Percival, Davies, Lomax, Walmsley, Roby, Lees, Sironen, Batchelor, Knowles.

Interchanges: Lussick, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Paasi, Bell.

Hull FC: Connor, Shaul, Wynne, Tuimavave, McIntosh, Reynolds, Lovadua, Sao, Houghton, Taylor, Lane, Ma'u, Fash.

Interchanges: Brown, Griffin, Johnstone, Satae.

Referee: J. Smith.

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