The Black & Whites fell to defeat at the MKM Stadium on Monday evening, with St Helens putting in an impressive second-half display to claim a 42-10 victory.
Hull came within six points of the reigning Betfred Super League champions, and looked as if they were in with a chance in the contest for long periods of the second-half.
However, the Saints ran away with the scoreline as the hour mark past, scoring seven tries, including a hat-trick from Jack Welsby.
Team News
Brett Hodgson made three changes from Friday’s clash against Leeds, with Danny Houghton, Josh Bowden and Carlos Tuimavave dropping out.
Ben McNamara, Jack Brown, Mitieli Vulikijapani all came into the side, named on the bench.
The Match
St Helens took an early lead in the match after just four minutes, as Joel Thompson got onto the end of a delicate grubber into the in-goal by James Roby at dummy-half.
Hull almost hit back immediately when Josh Reynolds put a delightful chip into the corner for Bureta Faraimo to collect and charge towards the lines. But Jack Welsby was there in defence for Saints to bundle him into touch.
Saints got their second after 14 minutes when a neat offload from Kevin Naiqama found Tommy Makinson, who had the pace to finish in the corner despite the challenge of Connor Wynne and Adam Swift in defence.
Saints’ lead was extended when Coote added a penalty on the 20 minute mark.
The visitors had a third score five minutes later when a high ball couldn’t be dealt with by the FC defence, and the ensuing scramble for the ball saw Jack Welsby come up trumps and touch down.
Hull thought they had their first try of the game when Adam Swift went for the line, but found himself held up by some strong Saints defence once more.
Hull did though have their first score of the game before the break, courtesy of Adam Swift who touched down for the eleventh time this league campaign. The winger made the most of a spilt ball from Coote from a high Sneyd kick, to break away down the edge to finish.
Half-Time: Hull FC 4-16 St Helens
FC were quickly back in the fight after half-time through, with a pin-point accurate kick from Josh Reynolds across the field collected by Bureta Faraimo who beat Jack Welsby in the air to touch down. Sneyd’s kick made the gap just six points.
It could have been another for the winger just minutes later; a charging run from Chris Satae from half-way saw Reynold put another accurate kick into the corner on the next play, but Faraimo just didn’t have the legs to reach the ball to pat it down.
Coote made it an eight point lead with a penalty just before the hour mark though, as Jordan Johnstone was sent to the sinbin for a late hit.
Despite Hull’s dominance in the third quarter of the game, a try from Kyle Amor with 15 minutes left to play came as a blow, with the prop getting on the end of Roby’s grubber from dummy-half.
Hull were fooled by the short grubber once again – this time from Coote and Naiqama added a fifth try for Saints.
Matters got worse Hull when Saints had a sixth try in the final ten minutes of the game – this time from Jack Welsby, before the youngster got his second as the final hooter sounded.
Full-Time: Hull FC 10-42 St Helens
Squads:
Hull FC: Connor Wynne, Bureta Faraimo, Mahe Fonua, Cameron Scott, Adam Swift, Josh Reynolds, Marc Sneyd, Ligi Sao, Jordan Johnstone, Chris Satae, Manu Ma’u, Jordan Lane, Joe Cator.
Interchange: Brad Fash, Ben McNamara, Jack Brown, Mitieli Vulikijapani.
St Helens: Lachlan Coote, Tommy Makinson, Kevin Naiqama, Mark Percival, Jack Welsby, Jonny Lomax, Lewis Dodd, Alex Walmsley, James Roby, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Joel Thompson, Joe Batchelor, Morgan Knowles.
Interchange: Matty Lees, Sione Mata’utia, Kyle Amor, Aaron Smith.
Scorers:
Hull FC Tries: Swift (36), Faraimo (46)
Hull FC Goals: Sneyd (1/2)
St Helens Tries: Thompson (4), Makinson (12), Amor (64), Naiqama (67), Welsby (23,73,80)
St Helens Goals: Coote (7/10)
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