St Helens 62 Hull FC 16: Lee Radford has few words to defend Hull’s collapse

Hull FC coach Lee Radford hosted a brief post-match press conference that underlined his disappointment after his side were crushed at St Helens.
Hull FC's Joe Westerman is congratulated on scoring his team's opening try.Hull FC's Joe Westerman is congratulated on scoring his team's opening try.
Hull FC's Joe Westerman is congratulated on scoring his team's opening try.

The Black and Whites lost heavily to the leaders, undoing some of the good feeling that was around after their record derby victory over Hull KR on Friday.

However, having lost 63-12 to Warrington earlier this season, Hull have been beaten heavily by the top two leaving Radford dejected.

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When asked to review the clash and asked the difference between yesterday and Friday, he said: “Opposition. If that’s the top two then we’ve clearly got some work to do.”

The Hull coach then left.

Saints boss Justin Holbrook heaped praise on his four-try star Kevin Naiqama after he produced a stellar performance.

The Fijian centre was everywhere for St Helens and Holbrook said things are beginning to click for him.

“Kevin is making a big impact for us,” Holbrook said. “He’s starting to really step things up and now the better weather is here and the dry tracks are coming into play we’ll be seeing the best of him.”

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After 10 minutes it looked as though Hull were going to cause an upset after they plundered two quick-fire tries to lead 10-0, but Saints bounced back with five of their own in the first period to lay the platform for an easy win.

The two tries Hull registered in the first half were fantastic, the second coming from a brilliant 40/20 kick from Marc Sneyd from which Carlos Tuimavave benefited. Their opening score was another classy kick that Saints failed to deal with which Joe Westerman collected in front of Danny Richardson. But that was about as good as it got.

Lomax raced in for two tries in three minutes as Joseph Paulo sent him clean through and then the half-back touched down for a superb solo effort as he threw a dummy that outfoxed the static Hull defence.

Naiqama was next to cross before Lomax connected with Coote who sent in Adam Swift.

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Coote added the extras from the touchline and minutes later was converting his own try from bang in front of the posts as he stepped clear for a walk-in.

Hull did get one back eight minutes into the second half as Jez Litten sprinted over after the Airlie Birds kept the ball alive on the last tackle.

However, order was soon restored as Swift planted the ball down out wide. Ratu Naulago thought he had got another one back for Hull, but Albert Kelly’s pass was deemed forward.

Hull had another chalked off for the same call, but it would have been a consolation effort as Naiqama hit back with a four-pointer and then Swift dived over in the corner for his third of the afternoon.

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Rampant Saints added another through Jack Welsby on 69 minutes, and there was still time for Naiqama to cap off a fine display with his third and fourth tries of the day.

St Helens: Coote, Swift, Grace, Naiqama, Makinson, Lomax, Richardson, Thompson, Roby, Lees, Knowles, Batchelor, Paulo. Substitutes: Amor, Peyroux, Ashworth, Welsby.

Hull FC: Connor, Naulago, Tuimavave, Scott, Faraimo, Kelly, Sneyd, Taylor, Hadley, Matongo, S. Manu, Minichiello, Westerman. Substitutes: Thompson, Green, Fash, Litten.

Referee: R Hicks (RFL).

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