James Bentley maintains perfect record as a Saint

Stand-in hooker James Bentley made it 11 wins out of 11 in a St Helens shirt with another impressive display in the 40-12 win over Hull FC.

Bentley, 22, has now featured in four consecutive games for the league leaders and was forced to play at hooker since the third minute of last week’s game against Warrington due to an injury to Aaron Smith.

With captain James Roby still sidelined too, Bentley was handed the number nine position once again and didn’t let coach Justin Holbrook down.

Holbrook said: “I thought James Bentley was enormous for us. To step in at nine and play 80 minutes defend so well, I’m real happy for him.

“It’s a tough place to come and play, with a hostile crowd, so to come away with a good win like that, I’m really happy.

“It was a really good performance from us. There are areas for improvement for sure but it was a dominant win.”

Ireland international Bentley arrived at Saints from Bradford ahead of the 2018 season, though only made three appearances last term, all coming towards the end of the season.

As well as featuring seven times for Leigh on dual-registration this season, he has now played eight times for Saints, including two starts, and is yet to taste defeat.