Long landmark in Saints win
Sean Long kicked his 1,000th goal for St Helens as they battled out a 23-6 win at Huddersfield.
Last Updated: 22/02/09 5:37pm
Sean Long enjoyed a landmark 1,000th goal for St Helens as they made it two wins out of two this season with a 23-6 win at Huddersfield.
Long had another poor kicking day for Saints, missing four of his five attempted conversions at the Galpharm Stadium, but a late drop-goal brought up his 1,000 for the club and put the icing on a good win for the visitors.
Without regular props Jason Cayless and James Graham, Saints still scored three tries in the opening half-hour, but the lack of conversions from Long made the score 12-6 once Paul Whatuira crossed the line for the Giants.
The Giants, with on-lone hooker Scott Moore impressing against his parent club Saints, applied the pressure to the visitors, but new signing Tony Puletua's try late on effectively sealed the points for Mick Potter's men.
Long converted and then added his landmark score with a drop-goal, while Ade Gardner also got on the scoresheet with a try on his 200th St Helens appearance.
Accuracy
After converting just one out of six attempts against Warrington last week, Long's radar was again off target as he could only nail one out of five.
He had some practice in the first half-hour as Saints ran in three tries, starting with Paul Wellens' try after 14 minutes, which cancelled out Brett Hodgson's early kick for Huddersfield.
Long then broke through the Giants defence to set-up Gardner for his try on a landmark day of his own.
Lee Gilmour sliced through for his try just after the half-hour and St Helens looked to be well in control of matters, despite Long missing all three conversions.
From 12-2 at the break, Huddersfield hit back five minutes into the second half when Whatuira gathered Luke Robinson's chip over the top to touch down for the home side's only try of the game.
Moore was leading the Giants with an outstanding display, and they were piling on the pressure against Saints - but the defence was standing firm.
With the game still in the balance, Puletua crashed over from close range, and this time Long was able to kick the conversion to seal the points.
Long just had enough time for his 1,000th St Helens goal courtesy of a drop-goal, while substitute Gary Wheeler's try a minute from time added some extra shine to the scoreline.
