Saints stunned by Salford
Matty Smith grabbed a hat-trick of tries against his parent club to help lowly Salford shock St Helens 42-34 at the Willows.
Last Updated: 16/05/10 8:42am
St Helens suffered a nasty case of deja vu as they lost for the second straight season away at Salford, going down 42-34 in a thriller at the Willows.
Ryan Boyle's late try sealed victory for the lowly Reds, helping to erase the memory of their 68-16 hammering against Warrington two weeks' ago.
Matty Smith - on loan from Saints - grabbed a hat-trick of tries for the hosts, while Ashley Gibson crossed twice in a see-saw game that could have gone either way.
In the end Saints were made to pay for a sluggish start and a pourous defence, as their six-match winning run came to a shuddering halt.
Fast start
Having had a week off to reflect on their Magic Weekend mauling at the hands of the Wolves, the Reds came roaring out of the blocks.
Daniel Holdsworth's up-and-under caused chaos in St Helens' defence, the ball falling kindly to Smith, who - playing against his hometown club - hacked forward to break the deadlock with just over a minute on the clock.
A second Salford try soon followed when Gibson's clever kick back infield allowed Holdsworth to catch it on the full and finish under the posts.
St Helens finally came to life in the 15th minute when James Graham accepted a short pass from Kieron Cunningham to crash over.
However Holdsworth and Mark Henry combined to set up Gibson on the right, the winger just getting the ball down before hitting the corner flag.
An individual effort from Kyle Eastmond, which the scrum-half also converted, followed, but Salford opened up a 10-point cushion in the 25th minute when Smith cashed in on Ade Gardner's inability to deal with his own bomb.
The plot took a further twist when Paul Wellens stretched out to score just two minutes before the interval and despite trailing 22-18 at the break, Saints would have been expected to force their way in front during the second half.
Yet the expected onslaught simply never materialised, Smith sealing his hat-trick in the 49th minute following a disallowed effort from Eastmond.
Gardner response
Gardner had again been at fault for St Helens conceding, though the winger made amends by touching down out on the right.
Salford, though, were in no mood to let slip their advantage, countering back to continue the tit-for-tat scoring when Gibson got past Scott Moore to get his second of the evening.
Back came Saints with Graham going over shortly after the hour mark - only for Reds winger Jodie Broughton to somehow race home from 30 metres out when it appeared he had nowhere to go when stuck tight to the touchline.
Moore got the benefit of the doubt from the television official to score Saints' sixth try but Eastmond failed with the goal that would have levelled matters.
But the knockout blow came from Boyle with six minutes to play, a grubber from Smith bouncing off Wellens to allow the prop to be the unlikely hero by scooping up the loose ball to dive over for the clinching score.
