St Helens 18 Wakefield Trinity 34: Lewis Murphy shines as Saints celebrate League Leaders’ Shield triumph

St Helens coach Kristian Woolf was proud of the way his young side acquitted themselves despite losing to Wakefield Trinity as they clinched the Betfred Super League Leaders Shield.

Despite the defeat, Saints sealed top spot because nearest rivals Wigan suffered defeat at Hull KR.

Wakefield winger Lewis Murphy scored four tries on the day that four players – Keane Gilford, Ben Lane, Ellis Archer and Rio Corkill – made their debut for Saints as Woolf had to deal with a combination of injuries and suspensions.

It was the first time this season that Saints have been beaten at home and it was a win Wakefield had in their pockets by half-time when they led 24-6.

Woolf admitted winning the League Leaders Shield was a massive story for the club, saying: “It’s an outstanding achievement for this group of men.

“With the amount of disruption we’ve had to cope with – and how much of your salary cap is sitting in the grandstand – we make sure they compete every week. Credit must go to the young blokes who stepped in following the lead of the senior players.”

Wakefield coach Willie Poching admitted that while he was delighted to get the win, it was important his players continued to work hard with one game of the season remaining.

He said: “We’ll take it. It wasn’t by any means the prettiest or flashiest performance. I thought the young fellas from Saints fought hard and were brave.

“Fortunately, we had enough about us to get the job done. Credit to the players for backing up after playing the other night.”

Asked about the four tries by Murphy, Poching added: “Lewis produced some special finishes – some of those tries took some real skill to finish.

“I think that he can go as far as he wants to in this game if he invests his time into learning his craft.”

St Helens: Bennison, Gilford, Makinson, Davies, Lane, Moss, Archer, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Lussick, Norman, Royle, Bell, Wingfield. Replacements: Baxter, Pemberton, Delaney, Corkill.

Wakefield Trinity: Jowitt, Evans, Croft, Gaskell, Murphy, Miller, Walker, Battye, Bowes, Aydin, Hall, Ashurst, Crowther. Replacements: Kay, Butler, Shaw, Adebiyi.

Referee: Tom Grant (RFL).