St Helens secure Challenge Cup hat-trick
Saturday, 30 Aug 2008 16:28
Francis Meli scored a brace of tries either side of half-time
St Helens have won their third consecutive Challenge Cup final, beating a spirited Hull FC 28-16 at Wembley Stadium.
Two tries from Francis Meli and one each for Matt Gidley, Jon Wilkin and Leon Pryce cancelled out a Kirk Yeaman brace and Gareth Raynor's late effort, ensuring the Cup would stay with the Super League leaders.
In truth, Daniel Anderson's side should have had a more substantial lead than ten points at the half, but survived a brave fightback to hold off the underdogs in the second period.
The game had barely begun when St Helens loose forward Paul Sculthorpe was forced off with a suspected dislocated shoulder after falling awkwardly when tackling Todd Byrne.
A cagey opening exchange, which saw both teams feeling their way into the game early on, was soon ended as the first score of the game came in controversial circumstances in the eighth minute.
A grubber kick forward by Meli appeared to come after a forward pass that was not given, resulting in Todd Byrne knocking on.
From the scrum, Wilkin offloaded to Gidley - who found a gaping hole in Hull's lacklustre defensive line to cross the whitewash.
Looking for an immediate riposte, the underdogs advanced to the 20-metre line but a chip over the top was just about batted away from the corner of the end zone by an uncertain Meli.
On 13 minutes, Hull wing Matt Sing lost the ball in the tackle, giving Saints the chance to extend their lead from close in but they failed to convert.
With 18 minutes on the clock the underdogs looked to counter and got within close range before Byrne lost the ball forward across the try-line, giving St Helens the restart from 20m.
A quick tap-and-go set Meli away and despite a last-ditch attempted tackle from Sing, his Saints opposite number finished from distance. Sean Long added the extras for a 10-0 lead.
Hull escaped going further behind in the 28th minute when a Saints counterattack put the Airlie Birds under pressure near their own line.
After good work among the backs, Willie Talau looked to have scored before it was called back for a forward pass.
Saints were putting their opponents under increasing pressure as the first half drew to a close, Meli coming within inches of crossing in the corner before his foot was dragged into touch by Byrne.
The second half began with Saints looking to hammer home the dominance they enjoyed in the first period.
But on 44 minutes it was Hull who found their way back into the match. Keiron Cunningham ran across the opposition defensive line before hurling a telegraphed pass out to his right.
Yeaman grabbed the interception and ran 90 metres to score, before Danny Tickle successfully converted from left of the posts to take them within one score.
The score seemed to galvanise Hull as well as their massed legion of fans who had been silenced for much of the opening half.
Saints responded on 53 with a controlled passage of play and Long looked to have put more distance between the sides as he ran outside Danny Washbrook to touch down in the corner.
However, the score was chalked off for an illegal block on the tackler, earning Hull a reprieve.
Just after the hour mark, though, it was Saints who were looking for a let off as Raynor was obstructed down in the corner to set Hull up on the 10-metre line.
Saints looked to be holding out until a well-worked move saw the ball fizzed out to the left where Yeaman was again in the right place to bundle past two would-be tacklers and crash over the line.
Tickle's successful conversion put Hull in front for the first time, 12-10, in what was becoming a far more competitive encounter than the first half suggested it would be.
But that score seemed to awake Saints from their slumber, as the ball was worked wide to Meli who scored his second of the game as the favourites retook the lead.
St Helens then moved further in front with ten minutes remaining as a Washbrook kick was charged down by Wilkin, who sprinted for the line and scored under the posts to extend the lead to 22-12.
Hull were not quite out of the match yet and on 73 minutes managed to work an opening out wide for Gareth Raynor to score in the corner, reducing the deficit to 22-16.
Tickle skewed his conversion attempt wide to the right, leaving Richard Agar's side still needing a converted score to level it up.
But any hopes they had of salvaging the match disappeared when stand-off Pryce ensured St Helens survived the late scare to lift the Cup for the third year running.
Team lineups:
Hull FCTodd Byrne, Matt Sing, Graeme Horne, Kirk Yeaman, Gareth Raynor, Danny Washbrook, Tom Lee, Ewan Dowes, Shaun Berrigan, Peter Cusack, Willie Manu, Danny Tickle, Lee Radford (captain).
Interchanges: Richard Horne, Garreth Carvell, Tom Briscoe, Jamie Thackray.
St HelensPaul Wellens, Ade Gardner, Matt Gidley, Willie Talau, Francis Meli, Leon Pryce, Sean Long, Bryn Hargreaves, Keiron Cunningham (captain), James Graham, Jon Wilkin, Chris Flannery, Paul Sculthorpe
Interchanges: Lee Gilmour, James Roby, Paul Clough, Maurie Fa'asavalu.
Attendance: 82,821