Huddersfield suffer 38-6 rout as St Helens end winless run
Huddersfield coach Jim Lenihan is still awaiting his first win in charge
St Helens took out their Betfred Super League frustrations on struggling Huddersfield as they ended a three-match winless run with a 38-6 rout on Sunday.
Two quickfire tries from Curtis Sironen opened the scoring midway through the first half before Nene MacDonald made it comfortable at the break.
Although Cole Geyer got one back for Huddersfield, Alex Walmsley soon replied and a late brace from Jake Davies followed a Harry Robertson try as Saints ran up the score.
Saints had already gone close before Sironen picked up a pass from Daryl Clark to power in the opener in the 21st minute, and five minutes later he had his second on the back of a good run from Tristan Sailor.
MacDonald, making his first appearance since the start of May following injury, then got involved as Jackson Hastings picked him out to score the third in the 32nd minute.
The Giants got on the board just before the hour as Geyer charged over at the end of a period of sustained pressure, but it was only a temporary reprieve as Saints turned up the heat.
Walmsley bulldozed his way through the defence moments later, and with 10 minutes to go Huddersfield allowed a high kick from Hastings to bounce, with Robertson scooping it up to go under the posts.
Davies then took over, charging down the wing for his first try and then spinning away from a defender to grab his second two minutes from time.
The win came at a cost for an already injury-depleted Saints, with Mark Percival suffering a hamstring issue after Matt Whitley and George Whitby were ruled out following Saturday’s captain’s run – with coach Paul Rowley saying Whitley’s wrist injury was a potential season-ender.
“The more chaotic it gets, you start getting a little bit more bullish,” Rowley said. “I’ve said this in the week, so I’m all right with that. I’ve been through stuff like this before and we’ll just keep chipping away.”
Huddersfield coach Jim Lenihan, still awaiting his first win in charge, said on Sky Sports: “We’ve got to work harder at our contact, we’ve got to keep working harder at being fitter.
“I think we are drastically underdone in our fitness compared to the top sides at the moment, so it’s really hard to pick that up in season, and we’re training harder than we’ve done.”