St Helens 18-34 Wakefield: Trinity continue winning run as Lewis Murphy scores four

Josh McAllister 29 Aug 2022 4:44 PM

A first half hat-trick from winger Lewis Murphy and another in the second 40 helped Wakefield to a 34-18 victory over St Helens at the Totally Wicked Stadium.

It was Willie Poching’s side’s fourth straight victory and takes them to 10 wins for the season.

Kristian Woolf’s youthful Saints put on a brave effort, with only a handful of players named from the squad that travelled to Wigan last week.

Match report

St Helens had four debutants in their squad. Keane Gilford, Ben Lane and Ellis Archer were all named in the starting XIII, while Rio Corkill featured from the bench. Tommy Makinson returned from injury and was named in the centres.

For Wakefield, Kyle Evans replaced Lee Kershaw on the wing. Bradley Walker replaced Mason Lino in the halves. David Fifita was not named and was replaced on the bench by Sadiq Adebiyi.

Playing in the back-row, Wakefield’s Corey Hall opened the scoring with eight minutes on the clock. The former Leeds youngster crashing through a gap close to the line to score.

The young Saints side hit back four minutes later. The hosts piled on the pressure with repeated sets and Ben Davies, playing in the centres, scored their first. The returning Makinson converting to give his side a 6-4 lead.

Recently named in the England Knights squad, Murphy continued his fine-finishing form. The winger with a superb acrobatic finish to regain his side’s lead on 19 minutes and his first of four.

Murphy crossed for his second just four minutes later, pouncing on a loose ball to ground the ball in the corner.

The 20-year old made it a hat-trick on 30 minutes with an incredible finish in the corner much to the delight of the travelling supporters in the opposite end.

Wakefield scored again on the following set. Max Jowitt supporting a break from winger Evans to score for a 24-6 score at the break.

HT: St Helens 6-24 Wakefield

Wakefield continued their scoring on 51 minutes. This time, Lee Gaskell supporting Murphy on the outside to score.

22-year-old Davies doubled his tally and scored his side’s second on 55 minutes for a 30-12 score to give the hosts a glimmer of hope.

Full-back Jon Bennison crossed for Saints’ third with eight minutes remaining on the clock, before Murphy scored his fourth of the afternoon and 17th of the season to seal the victory.

In the final minute, Gaskell was sent to the bin for holding down in the tackle.

FT: St Helens 18-34 Wakefield

St Helens: Bennison, Gilford, Makinson, Davies, Lane, Moss, Archer, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Lussick, Norman, Royle, Bell, Wingfield. Bench: Baxter, Pemberton, Delaney, Corkill.

Tries: Davies (2), Bennison

Goals: Makinson 3/3

Wakefield: owitt, Evans, Croft, Gaskell, Murphy, Walker, Miller, Battye, Bowes, Aydin, Ashurst, Hall, Crowther. Bench: Kay, Shaw, Butler, Adebiyi

Tries: Hall, Murphy (4), Jowitt, Gaskell,

Goals: Jowitt 1/4, Gaskell 2/3

Attendance: 8,222

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