St Helens boss Paul Wellens admits England star Morgan Knowles’ red card chaos was “disappointing.”
The Super League champions had their Betfred Challenge Cup quarter-final spot all sewn up against part-timers Halifax when the loose forward was dismissed in the 79th minute. Knowles, in his first game back after a five-match ban, needlessly hit Tom Inman high sparking an all-in brawl. Wellens admitted: “It is a disappointing one for us.
“I’d like to watch it back before commenting any further. I’ve not seen it yet. I’ve not spoken to Morgan yet either but I’d imagine he’s very disappointed. I’m happy with our performance in the main. It’s always a tricky tie against a Championship club away and Halifax are a good team and really competitive. But we dealt with that really well and we’re in the quarter-final draw which is the main thing.”
Halifax - with a roofer, farmer and banker in their squad - made Saints fight all the way. Joey Lussick (2), Jake Wingfield, Tommy Makinson and Jack Welsby all scored tries. But gritty Halifax - who shrugged off the tenth minute loss of scrum-half Joe Keyes to a torn pectoral - gave as good as they got.
And they got the biggest cheer of the night when local lad ‘Bob’ Fairbank scored the evening’s last try in the 73rd minute. Wellens, whose England stand-off Jonny Lomax passed a second half HIA but didn’t return, didn’t take any risks against their Championship opponents. He named a dozen of his squad that won the World Club Challenge against Penrith with veteran hooker James Roby one of the few stars to be rested.
That gave stand-in No9 Lussick chance of a rare start and he made the most of it. There was no faulting Halifax’s effort, though, as they continually muscled up in defence and battled hard against their superstar opponents. But Saints were always going to be too powerful and they built up a 16-0 interval lead.
Lussick got them off the mark and when Saints struck with back-to-back efforts in the 26th minute it was game over. Wingfield dived in first from a quick play-the-ball before Knowles charged down the middle for Makinson to finish in the right corner. England winger Makinson slotted the second of his three goals.
Saints extended their lead when England full-back Welsby sliced through in the 43rd minute before Lussick got his second. But ‘Fax refused to roll over, Fairbank scoring and Louis Jouffret converting. 'Fax boss Simon Grix said: “I’m really proud. They didn’t do us many favours as they didn’t rest many!
“But we came out with our pride intact. I asked them to have a go and play a bit and not succumb to Saints’ line pressure - which is relentless - and we did. It was great.”
