St Helens boss Paul Wellens points to lack of 'ruthlessness' after rare home defeat to Salford
- Seb Sternik
- 9 March 2024
St Helens coach Paul Wellens was left disappointed after his side squandered a 14-point lead against Salford before suffering their first home defeat against the Red Devils since 1980.
Tries from Jack Welsby, Lewis Dodd and Percival gave Saints an early platform but Percival only landed one goal from three – misses which would prove costly.
The key turning point of the match proved to be Mark Percival's sending off in the 45th minute for a late hit on Salford’s Jack Ormondroyd.
Salford worked their way back into the contest as tries from Nene Macdonald, Chris Atkin and Deon Cross were backed up by four goals from Marc Sneyd.
The visitors edged ahead in the final minutes of the match and held out for a famous 24-20 victory.
Wellens said: “Naturally, I’m disappointed with the result, particularly after the way we started.
“We were very dominant in the opening stages but failed to capitalise. We didn’t have the same ruthlessness about us and were casual at times.
“Early on, it looked as if only one team was ever going to win the game. We had Salford right where we needed them.
“But small things can become big things if you don’t nail them. We should have gone on to win the game when we went down to 12. That’s something we have done in the past.
“Regarding the red card, I need to look at it more thoroughly. We have to accept the game is going down a particular route this season. I hope we see consistency. If that’s a red card, it has to be a red card next week too.
“But we lost the game because we deserved to. I can’t fault the group in terms of effort, but we just didn’t come up with the right plays when we needed them.”
