Saints close in on play-off spot with Cas victory

Betfred Super League

St Helens (14) 40

Tries: Burns, Bennison 3, Lomax, Paasi, Makinson, Delaney Goals: Bennison 3, Mata'utia

Castleford (4) 4

Tries: Rooney

St Helens eased past Castleford Tigers at the Totally Wicked Stadium to all but guarantee a top-six finish and play-off berth.

Jon Bennison’s double and a Jake Burns score put Saints 14-0 up before Fletcher Rooney responded for Cas on the stroke of half-time.

Jonny Lomax and Ignatius Paasi stretched the lead and Bennison then completed his hat-trick before Tommy Makinson and George Delaney added gloss late on.

The win moves Saints up to fourth in Super League, two points ahead of seventh-placed Leeds Rhinos - who lost at Wigan Warriors - and with a huge points difference advantage with one game left.

Saints are the only Super League team to be play-off ever-presents, but a run of three wins in 11 left them clinging on in sixth going into the penultimate round of the campaign.

The hosts also had memories of an 8-6 loss the last time Cas visited in early July, the second of five straight defeats.

Yet head coach Paul Wellens could put out a much stronger side with Makinson returning after a two-match ban, and four senior players back from the treatment table, just in time for the season’s business end.

St Helens' Jon Bennison scored a hat-trick of tries in a personal 18-point haul

Morgan Knowles’ pass sent Alex Walmsley through a sizable gap to give Burns a routine run-in and settle nerves, before Jack Welsby broke the line and handed Bennison a simple finish as Saints went 10-0 up inside nine minutes.

Makinson somehow failed to find Lomax with the line at his mercy, but Bennison squeezed over in the corner as the hosts quickly spread play from right to left.

Error-prone Cas struggled for territory, but some lax Saints play gave them some late first-half pressure from which Rooney twisted and turned his way over in the left corner.

Another early score after the break eased the home side’s self-inflicted nerves, Lomax easily crashing through a gap on the Cas goal line before Paasi then powered over from close range.

Swift hands sent Bennison in at the left corner for the third time before Lomax and Sione Mata’utia combined to tee up Makinson’s 204th try in his last regular-season home appearance for Saints.

There was another nice moment for a departing Saints player when Mata’utia was asked to convert Delaney’s last-gasp score to make it 40 points.

For Tigers, academy graduate Akim Matvejev became the first Estonian player to appear in Super League, but it was a rare moment of note as the visitors faded after the break.

Saints warm up for their likely end-of-season adventures with a trip to play-off chasing Leigh Leopards in the final weekend of the regular season, while Cas visit Huddersfield Giants on Thursday.

Tommy Makinson (left) celebrates a 204th try in his last regular-season home appearance for Saints

St Helens head coach Paul Wellens told BBC Radio Merseyside:

“I liked a lot of what we did. We showed a lot of fluidity with the ball and credit to the halves.

“Lewis [Dodd] has come into the team after a period of time out and Jack [Welsby] has been out, but they looked like they were working together well out there which made us look really threatening at times.

“We’re playing potentially for a home tie in the play-offs [against Leigh]. It was an important two points tonight and next week we’ve got a great opportunity to play against a good side in their own backyard in a hostile environment.

“We played them there a few weeks ago and were on the wrong side of a drubbing, so you can say we owe them one, but we’re going there to compete hard. I would love another opportunity for us to come back here this season.”

Castleford Tigers head coach Craig Lingard told BBC Radio Leeds:

“We knew it was going to be tough, with Saints pretty much back at full strength and we had a lot of bodies out and a lot of young kids out there.

“We didn’t start the game too well, 10 points down within 10 minutes, but I was pleased with how they dug in towards the end of that first half.

“I thought execution of some of the basic skills was off, particularly early on, tipping over too much cheap possession where we didn’t make Saints work for it.

“Again we started poorly after half-time which has been a feature for us all season, but I’m immensely proud of the team and the three 18-year-old kids playing for us.”

St Helens: Welsby; Makinson, Mata'utia, Percival, Bennison; Lomax, Dodd, Walmsley, Burns, Lees, Whitley, Batchelor, Knowles.

Interchanges: Clark, Bell, Paasi, Delaney.

Castleford: Rooney; Qareqare, Hooley, Mellor, Senior; Milnes, Miller, Watts, McShane, Mustapha, Lawler, El-Zakhem, Horne.

Interchanges: Windley, Hindmarsh, Martin, Matvejev.

Referee: J Smith.