Leeds Rhinos 18-31 St Helens
St Helens completed a double over Leeds winning 31-18.
Jonny Lomax inspired Saints to an important victory over the Rhinos which will see Mike Rush’s side keep in touch of the leaders at the top of Super League.
Lee Smith thought he had scored for the Rhinos early in the match after Kallum Watkins capitalised on what looked like an early Saints error. However referee Steve Ganson judged Ablett to have knocked the ball free, and Leeds were denied the try.
But it was Leeds who broke the deadlock anyway. The ball was passed along the line from Danny McGuire to Brent Webb, before Webb offloaded to Ryan Hall who had space on the outside. Hall wasn’t selfish, and had McGuire in support who was able to touch down amid the chasing defenders.
Sinfield’s conversion meant he had crossed the 3,000 point mark in his career.
St Helens levelled the scores on the back of Jonny Lomax’s try, which at first looked suspicious, but referee Steve Ganson was confident in his decision. Lance Hohaia’s kick wasn’t dealt with by Leeds, but Lomax was on hand to touch down next to the posts.
Saints went ahead thanks to Paul Wellens with less than 10 minutes until half time. James Roby made a break and had two players in support. Roby offloaded to Jonny Lomax, before he in turn pass inside to Wellens.
But Leeds had the last word of the half, bringing the scores back to all square when Sinfield’s half break gave Brett Delaney a chance to support his skipper and collect a timely offload to score under the posts.
Jamie Jones-Buchanan opened the scoring in the second half collecting an inside pass from Brent Webb. He was able to shake off the attempts of Paul Clough and score under the posts.
However St Helens quickly replied with a try from Tommy Makinson. Michael Shenton’s back door pass found the winger, and despite Webb’s attempts to knock the youngster into touch Makinson had the ability to ground the ball in the corner.
Lomax grabbed his second try of the game to take St Helens back into the lead, receiving a lovely inside offload from Sia Soliola. However Jon Wilkin gave St Helens some breathing space after collecting a powerful Roby pass from dummy half. Wilkin collected the pass a yard from the Leeds’ line, and only had to dive over to put Saints further ahead.
Laffranchi intercepted a Jamie Peacock offload, but had the ball illegally stolen which allowed Lomax to convert the penalty. Lomax added a drop goal to extend Saints’ lead to 13-points with no way back for the Rhinos.
Leeds scores: T- McGure, Delaney, Jones-Buchanan. G- Sinfield (3)
St Helens scores: T- Lomax (2), Wellens, Makinson, Wilkin. G- Makinson (3), Lomax (2). DG- Lomax
Leeds: Webb; Smith, Watkins, Hardaker, Hall; Sinfield, McGuire; Leuluai, Burrow, Peacock; Jones-Buchanan, Delaney, Ablett. Subs: Bailey, Clarkson, Griffin, Lunt (not used).
St Helens: Wellens; Makinson, Shenton, Wheeler, Meli; Hohaia, Lomax; Laffranchi, Roby, Perry; Flannery, Soliola, Wilkin. Subs: McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Flanagan, Clough, Puletua.
Referee: Steve Ganson
Half time: 12-12
Attendance: 15,343