St Helens 16 Hull FC 17: Sneyd's late drop goal delivers Hull FC victory at Saints

Saints led 16-10 at half-time with tries from Joe Greenwood, Matty Dawson and Jordan Turner.

Hull replied with efforts from Danny Houghton and Curtis Naughton and they pulled level at 16-16 through Kirk Yeaman on the hour.

Sneyd, who also booted two conversions, landed a 40-metre drop goal five minutes from time to snatch victory for Hull in a thrilling contest.

Hull welcomed back Mahe Fonua, Carlos Tuimavave, Mark Minichiello, Sika Manu and Frank Pritchard.

Liam Watts made his presence felt straight from the kick-off with two thundering hits on Theo Fages and Luke Walsh. But Fages suffered no ill-effects and his slide rule kick led to a Greenwood try after four minutes with Walsh booting the conversion.

Jamie Shaul saved a try with a crunching tackle on Walsh after a storming James Roby break.

Walsh was injured again after tackling Yeaman, with Hull drawing level midway through the first half.

Sneyd’s kick rebounded off a post for Houghton to pounce and Sneyd added the conversion.

Play swung from end to end and Saints regained the advantage with Turner tapping back Walsh’s kick, which eluded the Hull defence for Fages to float a pass to Dawson who scored in the corner.

Walsh was clearly handicapped after sustaining a couple of heavy tackles, with Jack Owens taking over the kicking duties to convert off the touchline.

Saints added a third try with Walsh and Jon Wilkin engineering a touchdown for Turner to make it 16-6.

It was largely an error-free show by both teams and Hull grabbed a try their play deserved just before the break after Dean Hadley was stopped short.

Naughton rounded Shannon McDonnell to score in the corner before Owens missed a penalty after a high tackle on Walsh.

Hull came out firing in the second half with a sizzling Shaul burst almost breaking Saints cover. A handling error by Tuimavave let Saints off the hook.

They waited until the 55th minute before bringing on Travis Burns before a high tackle by Wilkin on Scott Taylor put the home side under more pressure.

Naughton’s break set up Yeaman on the hour and his try was no more than Hull’s enterprising play deserved, with Sneyd slotting over the conversion to level at 16-16.

Turner almost bagged a second try but Hull would have led for the first time had Sneyd been able to collect his own chip ahead, but he fumbled the chance.

Fages missed a drop goal attempt six minutes from time before Sneyd’s dramatic match winner.

St Helens: McDonnell, Owens, Peyroux, Turner, Dawson, Fages, Walsh, Walmsley, Roby, Savelio, Greenwood, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Wilkin. Substitutes: Burns, Amor, Richards, Thompson.

Hull FC: Shaul, Michaels, Fonua, Yeaman, Naughton, Tuimavave, Sneyd, Taylor, Houghton, Watts, Minichiello, Manu, Ellis. Substitutes: Thompson, Hadley, Bowden, Pritchard.

Referee: J Child (RFL).