Hull FC 6 St Helens 46: Poor choices costly as Airlie Birds suffer heavy home defeat to Saints
Lewis Dodd and Jake Burns scored two tries each and further scores from Tommy Makinson, Daryl Clark, Matt Whitley and Agnatius Paasi halted Saints’ five-game losing streak to ease the pressure on head coach Paul Wellens.
Saints’ losing run included a 46-4 thrashing at Leigh last week and despite missing England trio Jack Welsby, Jonny Lomax and Mark Percival, they were far too strong for depleted Hull, who crashed to their 17th defeat of the season.
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Hide AdHull, without 10 injured players, plus the suspended Ligi Sao, who was sent off in last week’s 24-16 defeat at Catalans Dragons, struck through a late consolation try through Jack Walker, who raced on to Jake Trueman’s grubber kick to half-hearted cheers from home fans, Jordan Lane adding the extras.


“I thought the scoreline blew out disappointingly,” said Grix. “We were obviously deserved losers, but 30 minutes, to be 0-0 and to get a hiding like that is disappointing.
“Their pack, the physical element of the game, was just too much for us, but it’s disappointing with the collapse element.
“I don’t think they threw the towel in effort-wise, we just made some really poor choices, poor contacts and the game just got away from us.”
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Hide AdWellens was relieved to see his team end their frustrating run of form, one which has seen them slip off the pace at the top from Warrington Wolves, Hull KR and Wigan Warriors, slipping to fifth in the standings below Salford Red Devils.
“We’ve stopped a losing run, I think that’s important,” said Wellens. “But by no means are we sat here now thinking we’re the finished article.
“We’ve got a lot of improvement in us and we’re going to have to get better.
"The challenges down the track that we’re looking at are going to be tough, very tough.
“We’ve got to rise to those challenges, but I’m encouraged by what I saw today.”