Hull fail to convert possession as Saints take share

The huge wealth of possession Peter Gentle’s side generated should have profited at least twice as many points on the scoreboard.

That, however, did not take into account some spectacular defence from their spirited opponents, who continually protected their line with such zeal and energy.

Even then, amid a dramatic ending, Saints drew level with a controversial last-minute penalty – just as they did at the KC Stadium last season – before somehow almost stealing victory with the last play of the game.

All of which left Gentle a little dazed.

Hull remain fifth, two points above their opponents directly below, but the Australian admitted: “The boys are filthy – they should have done better.

“It’s a point in the right direction but I still think it should have been two. We had enough ball.

“We were probably guilty of panicking and lacked composure.

“Saints’ defence was terrific. They handled all that we threw at them.

“But by the same token we tried going round them rather than through which is not what we’ve been doing on the training field. We’ve had a real good talk about that.”

After the misery of their last-gasp derby defeat against Hull KR, though, this was certainly a step forward.

But Hull – who lost winger Will Sharp to a knee injury inside 10 minutes – will rue not making the most of those numerous repeat sets.

Brett Seymour’s probing precision kicks did most of the damage but the hosts then too often lacked the guile and artistry to break Saints down at the second attempt.

Saints, themselves smarting from a huge derby defeat against Wigan, opened the scoring in the 13th minute.

With Hull’s defence sucked infield, a long ball from Lance Hohaia found Adam Swift and the young Saints winger – preferred to last year’s goalkicking hero here Jamie Foster – cut a perfect angle back inside.

They scored again straight after when Michael Shenton pierced Hull out wide and Sia Soliola supported to put Lance Hohaia over, Tom Makinson improving both times.

But Seymour’s boot got to work and, from the second drop out he engineered, the Australian scrum-half glided behind the ruck to find Richard Horne whose flat pass sent Richard Whiting careering over.

Tickle converted and almost crossed himself with Jordan Turner also twisting close.

Saints did not help themselves with their poor discipline, Jon Wilkin’s frustrations showing when he kicked the ball away following another questionable Alibert call, but their defence stood firm.

The second half started the same way until Hull finally got the breakthrough when Horne bundled over.

Seymour’s astute kicking had forced three successive drop-outs so it was no wonder Saints finally succumbed.

Andy Lynch shrugged off Chris Flannery through the middle and, although Paul Wellens pulled off yet another fine tackle, the resolute Saints defence was at last in a state of disarray.

Horne flung a wide pass to Whiting who forged close before slipping an off-load for the stand-off to scramble in.

Unusually, though, Tickle skewed the relatively simple conversion to the right of the posts, a miss which would prove so costly.

Typically, with their first real threat of the second half, Saints struck back straightaway.

A much-needed penalty gave them field position but there was little excuse for the feeble Hull defence as Wilkin stretched in front to gather a Jonny Lomax pass and found the line open up from 20m.

Makinson struck wide before St Helens prop Josh Perry fumbled to heap more pressure on his colleagues and allow Tickle to atone for his earlier error.

The second-row surged onto a clever shortside move from industrious hooker Danny Houghton, held off the tacklers and converted the 62nd minute score to level at 16-16.

When Josh Jones and Wilkin laid on top of Seymour too long in the 70th minute, Tickle put the Black and Whites back in front before Seymour and Turner both had chances to make sure.

They did not, however, and Saints rescued a point when Matty Russell dropped a hanging Lomax kick and Willie Manu, who will join the Merseysiders in 2013, was caught offside.

A long deliberation took place among the Saints players about whether to accept the easy penalty or go for broke before Makinson was finally given the chance. Even then, after Hull’s short re-start went awry, Tony Puletua broke clear and flung a loose pass which could have resulted in a Saints try.

Instead, Alibert deemed Hull had knocked on and blew the whistle.

Saints coach Mike Rush said: “That was the most frustrating thing – he called a knock on but not against us and we’d kicked the ball ahead.

“But I don’t think I’ve coached a team at any age which has had to defend for so much and such long periods.

“We only had 12 sets with the ball in the second half. We normally average 18 to 22.

“There was a temptation to run that last penalty but at the end of the day Hull are two points above us and we couldn’t run the risk of them going three above.”

Hull FC: Russell; Sharp, Turner, Crooks, Briscoe; Horne, Seymour; Moa, Houghton, Lynch, Manu, Tickle, Westerman. Substitutes: Aspinwall, Whiting, Pitts, O’Carroll.

St Helens: Wellens; Makinson, Shenton, Jones, Swift; Hohaia, Lomax; Perry, Roby, Puletua, Soliola, Flannery, Wilkin. Substitutes: McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Clough, Gaskell, Flanagan.

Referee: T Alibert (Toulouse).