St Helens went joint top of Super League alongside Leeds Rhinos as they hung on for an 18-12 win at home to Wakefield Trinity on Saturday.Â
Saints dominated the first half, and although a fifth-minute Owen Dagnall try was ruled out on review, they led 12 minutes in when Dagnall set up Jake Davies to force his way over.
Six minutes later they had a second try as Jonny Lomax teed up Kyle Feldt to cross, and it was 16-0 at the break after an interception from Harry Robertson led to Tristan Sailor touching down.
But Wakefield got themselves on the board in the 55th minute when a Saints knock-on afforded them a second chance which Tyson Smoothy accepted.
Jackson Hastings kicked a penalty just before the hour to pad the Saints lead, and it was a margin they needed as Caius Faatili went over untouched after a nice pass from Jake Trueman.
St Helens coach Paul Rowley told Your Site: "It wasn't polished today by any means but we must remember we're playing a Wakefield team high on confidence. They targeted this game for a while and they're a team that challenge you defensively so sometimes it looks disconnected or chaotic.
"I didn't enjoy any of that second half, to be honest. I was calling for a few things. I thought there were a few dodgy forward passes in there but that's what you do when you get a bit nervous."
Wakefield coach Daryl Powell said: "There were a couple of soft tries in the first half but in the second half I thought we were really aggressive and I think they'll feel like they've been in a pretty tough game and we were pretty close."
Mikey Lewis scored four tries as defending champions Hull KR hiked themselves back into the Super League play-off places for the first time this season with an emphatic 48-12 win over Bradford at sun-drenched Odsal.
Willie Peters' men shrugged off a brief lapse late in the first half to dominate their injury-ravaged opponents and move up to fifth, leapfrogging ailing rivals Wigan whom they trailed by eight points in a torrid start to their campaign.
Lewis' leadership was backed up by a faultless kicking performance by Rhyse Martin, who converted all eight of his side's tries, while the Bulls were left to take comfort from tries by Brandon Lewis and Greg Eden.
The patched-up Bulls, with eight of their starting squad numbers absent through injury, always looked to be on a hiding to nothing after a tough run of losses, and their worst fears looked set to turn to reality as Rovers went in for four tries in the opening quarter of an hour.
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