Saints Seal Toulouse Toppler
Saturday, 24 December 2022
2022 Challenge Cup Final/ Super League Round 14 (Catch-Up)
Saints Seal Toulouse Toppler
Thursday, 15 September 2022
2022 Women's Super League Groups 1/2 Round Two (Catch-up)
The huge catch-up continues with a focus on the Women's Super League with Round Two from Groups One and Two.
Rhinos Rout Giants
Saints Stunned By Knights
Bulls Battle Past Miners Rangers
Sunday, 14 August 2022
2022 Super League Round 13 (Catch-Up)
The huge catch-up continues with Round 13 which ironically proved lucky for some due to a few close results.
Saints Overcome Wolves
Sunday, 31 July 2022
2022 Women's Super League Groups 1/2 Round One (Catch-up)
The blog catchup resumes with the opening round of this seasons Women's Super League which sees a 5/7 split to form Groups One and Two due to the Castleford Tigers Women's dropping down.
Group One
Derby Delight For Saints
St Helens Women began the defence of the BWSL title with a comfortable 44-0 victory over Wigan Warriors Women at the Totally Wicked Stadium. A rapid start from the hosts saw Leah Burke crossing on the wing and Zoe Harris converting for a 6-0 lead inside four minutes. Channy Crowl, Amy Hardcastle and Paige Travis all touched down before the half-hour mark with Harris adding two conversions for a 22-0 advantage and the hosts went into the interval leading 28-0 after Harris improved a second try of the afternoon from Hardcastle.
Wigan showed improvement in the second half as despite not scoring, they held Saints out until the final 15 minutes when a rapid treble saw Shona Hoyle and Eboni Partington both cross with Harris converting the former before a self-converted try to wrap up the 44-0 victory.
Hudds Humbled By York
Huddersfield Giants Women suffered an opening loss with a 50-6 to York City Knights Ladies at Laund Hill Sports Complex. The visitors raced into a 12-0 lead with tries from Emma Kershaw and Olivia Wood which Tara Jane Stanley converted. Hudds got off the mark with a self-converted try from Frankie Townend to make it 12-6 but would go into the interval 16-6 behind after Kershaw claimed her second try.
A rapid brace from Hollie Dodd within four minutes of the restart saw York take control with Stanley converting the latter for a 26-6 lead. Tries from Georgia Taylor, Grace Field and Betty Lambert saw Stanley add two conversions to open up a huge 44-6 lead with Olivia Whitehead wrapping up the 50-6 with a self-converted score in the final minute.
Group Two
Wolves Win Against Battling Barrow
Warrington Wolves Women opened the season with a 32-6 win over Barrow Raiders Ladies at Craven Park. The Wolves struck first with a Georgia Sutherland try inside three minutes before Michelle Davis crossed to double the lead to 8-0. Barrow hit back with a Sam Norman try which Jodie Litherland converted for 8-6 before a Fern Davies try and Davis conversion sent the Wolves into the interval leading 14-6.
Sutherland claimed her second try with Davis kicking for a 20-6 lead on 50 minutes with Charlize Magraw crossing and another try by an unnamed scorer seeing Davis kick to wrap up the 32-6 victory.
Trinity Toppled By Miners
Leigh Miners Rangers Ladies sealed instant success in the BWSL with a 28-14 win over Wakefield Trinity Ladies at Twist Lane. Sadly the game updates didn't have any Leigh scorers other than they took a 12-0 lead before being pegged back by tries from Leonie Lawson and Abby Price and a Megan Preston conversion for 12-10 with the lead into the interval becoming 16-10.
The hosts took control by opening up a 24-10 lead with Saskia Lewis cutting the gap to 24-14 with a try before Leigh rounded off the win late on for a 28-14 final score.
The final game of the weekend saw a dominant 30-0 win for Featherstone Rovers Ladies over Bradford Bulls Women at Odsal Stadium.
A perfect start for Rovers as Zoe Teece crossed inside four minutes with Jess Matthews converting for 6-0. Fev extended the lead to a huge 20-0 into the interval after tries from Olivia Grace, Charley Blackburn (Matthews conv) and Chloe Billington.
The rout was completed by two tries after the hour mark as Ellie Lamb touched down ahead of a second score from Billington which Lucy Richardson converted for the 30-0 final score.
Friday, 15 July 2022
2022 Super League Round 12 (Catch-Up)
The delayed catch-up process continues as the Super League reached Round 12.
Senior Treble Stuns Warriors
Huddersfield Giants continued their good form with a 33-22 win over Wigan Warriors at the John Smith's Stadium. A rapid start from the hosts saw Lewis Senior and Ricky Leutele both cross for tries that Oliver Russell converted to open up a 12-0 lead. Wigan replied with a score from Sam Halsall which Harry Smith converted for a 12-6 gap into the interval.
Senior crossed for his second try of the evening within four minutes of the restart and Russell converted for 18-6 before Jake Wardle went over to make it 22-6. A Wigan comeback saw Halsall score his second try ahead of a debut score from Matty Nicholson and Smith conversion for 22-16. Hudds opened up the two score gap with a Sam Hewitt effort for 16-16 before Nicholson struck for a second time and Smith kicked for 26-22. The hosts wrapped up the win with Senior's hat-trick try in the final minute with Russell adding a fourth success with the boot to confirm the 32-22 victory.
Saints Hold Off Hull FC
St Helens stayed on top after a 24-10 victory over Hull FC at the Totally Wicked Stadium. Saints struck first through Tommy Makinson who crossed for 4-4 inside seven minutes before Darnell McIntosh levelled for Hull with a try on the half-hour mark for 4-4. The hosts did lead into the interval though as Jack Welsby crossed in the final minute of the half with Makinson converting for 10-4 at the break.
Makinson added a penalty goal to extend the lead to 12-4 in the 53rd minute and the contest swayed further towards Saints as Jonny Lomax crossed for a try which Makinson improved for 18-4. The final says on the score-line were braces as Makinson claimed his and converted for 24-4 before McIntosh sealed his and Jake Connor kicked for a 24-10 final score.
Toulouse Topple Trinity
Toulouse Olympique returned to winning ways with a narrow 20-14 win over Wakefield Trinity at Stade Ernest Wallon. Toulouse opened the scoring with a Chris Hankinson penalty goal for 2-0 before a Lewis Murphy try gave Trinity a 4-2 advantage. The lead swung again twice more as Oli Ashall-Bott put the host 6-4 ahead before Liam Kay touched down and Mason Lino converted for 10-6 into the interval.
The hosts regained the lead within four minutes as Matty Russell touched down and Hankinson converted for 12-10 but Trinity hit back with a Corey Hall try for 14-12. Hankinson levelled the contest at 14-14 with a penalty and the win was sealed with seven minutes left as Ashall-Bott claimed his second try and Hankinson converted for a 20-14 final score.
Red Devils Rally Past Rhinos
Classy Cas Crush Robins
Monday, 20 June 2022
2022 Women's Challenge Cup Final/Men's Semi Finals (Catch-up)
A break from the Super League action at both levels in early May saw a triple header at Elland Road which I attended.
Saints Cup Comeback Denies RhinosSt Helens Women retained the Betfred Women's Challenge Cup as they came from behind to secure an 18-8 win over Leeds Rhinos Women.
The Rhinos struck first with a well worked try from Zoe Hornby which Courtney Winfield-Hill converted for a 6-0 lead. Saints hit back with a Leah Burke try before Winfield-Hill ensured the Rhinos would take a lead into the interval with a penalty goal for 8-4 in the final minute.
The hour mark proved pivotal as after Winfield-Hill missed a penalty goal, Saints used the miss as inspiration to go down the other end and draw level with Eboni Partington's try for 8-8. Saints went ahead for the first time as Jodie Cunningham touched down and Beth Stott converted for 14-8. The win and the continued hold of the trophy was confirmed in the final seconds as Partington crossed for her second try for an 18-8 final score.
Hudds Hammer Rueful Robins
Huddersfield Giants reached the final for the first time in a decade as they cruised to a 25-4 win over Hull Kingston Rovers. The Giants raced into an 12-0 lead with tries from Josh Jones and Innes Senior both crossing inside 18 minutes with Oliver Russell converting twice and the lead remained into the interval.
Jermaine McGillvary extended the lead within two minutes of the restart before Russell converted a penalty goal to make it 18-0 on 46 minutes. The win was confirmed by the hour as Owen Trout (Russell conv) touched down before Theo Fages swept over a drop goal for 25-0. The Robins avoided a nilling in having the final say as Shaun Kenny-Dowall went over late on for a 25-4 final score.
Sunday, 19 June 2022
2022 Women's Nines Group Stage (Catch-Up)
A huge delay in writing this feature which was my first as a volunteer for Wigan in covering the Women's Nines Group Stage so the main focus is on their group which was C and I chose to watch D later in the day.
Saints Advance While Wolves Face Wait
Rhinos Ease Through While Broncos Seal Second
City Knights Cruise While Cardiff Celebrate Second
Sunday, 12 June 2022
2022 Super League Round 11 (Catch-Up)
A huge delay in catching up due to a busy schedule and also some writing for Wigan themselves see a resuming from Round 11.
Giants Glory In Trinity Topple
Saints Hold Off Red Devils
Warriors Win Against Wolves
Sunday, 22 May 2022
2022 Women's Challenge Cup Semi Finals (Catch-up)
Another delayed post as the catch-up continues with the Women's Challenge Cup Semi Finals which were held at Warrington Wolves' Halliwell Jones Stadium.
The first semi final saw Leeds Rhinos Women come from behind to seal a 28-26 win over York City Knights Ladies. A perfect start for York saw Tara-Jane Stanley cross for a try in the opening minute which she converted for a 6-0 lead. Leeds replied with Chloe Kerrigan touching down for a brace either side of an effort from Grace Field (Stanley conv) as York led 12-8. The Rhinos went ahead for the first time with two scores in four minutes as Alexandra Barnes and Hanna Butcher crossed with Courtney Winfield-Hill converting twice for 20-12 and this remained into the interval.
York cut the gap with a Sinead Peach try and Stanley conversion for 20-18 before Stanley levelled at 20-20 with a penalty goal. The equality lasted just two minutes as Tasha Gaines crossed for Leeds with Winfield-Hill converting for a 26-20 advantage. York hit back to level again with Jasmine Bell touching down and Stanley converting for 26-26. The win was sealed for the Rhinos as Winfield-Hill converted a penalty goal for 28-26 to send them into the final.
Super Saints Rout Rovers
Wednesday, 18 May 2022
2022 Super League Round Ten (Catch-Up)
After the hectic Easter double, many clubs rotated their line-ups for Round Ten which saw home advantage pay off.