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| St Helens (12) 38 |
| Tries: Percival, Hopoate, Makinson, Dodd, Hurrell 2, Lomax Goals: Percival 5 |
| Wakefield (0) 0 |
Champions St Helens scored seven tries in a comfortable Super League win over winless Wakefield Trinity.
Mark Percival, Will Hopoate and Tommy Makinson all touched down to give St Helens a 12-0 lead at half-time.
Konrad Hurrell scored twice, while Lewis Dodd and Jonny Lomax – in his 300th game for Saints – also crossed.
Bottom club Wakefield have lost all seven of their Super League games in 2023, and failed to score any points for the fourth time this season.
Saints’ third straight win moved them within four points of unbeaten leaders Warrington but victory came at a cost for Paul Wellens’ side, who lost England prop Alex Walmsley to injury in the first couple of minutes.
They were soon in front as centre Percival collected Jack Welsby’s pass for the opening score, and tries from wingers Hopoate and Makinson just before the interval provided some breathing room for St Helens.
Percival knocked over a penalty before Welsby set up Dodd to score under the posts and Tonga centre Hurrell powered over following a scrum for Saints’ fifth try of the evening.
Half-back Lomax, who was player of the match in last season’s Grand Final win over Leeds, marked his milestone occasion with a try of his own before setting up Hurrell to round off the scoring late on.
St Helens: Welsby; Makinson, Hurrell, Percival, Hopoate; Lomax, Dodd; Walmsley, Roby, Lees, Sironen, Bell, Knowles.
Interchanges: Lussick, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Royle, Delaney.
Wakefield: Dagger; Kershaw, Lyne, Langi, Senior; Smith, Lino; Whitbread, Kay, Battye, Pitts, Ashurst, Crowther.
Interchanges: Eseh, Butler, Bowes, Forber.
Referee: Chris Kendall
