'We can’t allow that' - St Helens boss Paul Wellens sends warning to team despite Huddersfield win

Kevin Naiqama ran into the corner to open the scoring against his old side and St Helens’ lacklustre start was punished when Adam Swift put the Giants 12 points in front.

Tommy Makinson then plucked a loose Huddersfield pass out of the air and ran 60 metres to cut the deficit to six at the halfway stage.

St Helens had three tries disallowed but Daryl Clark brought Saints level before Lomax kicked a drop goal from 35 yards with seconds left to earn St Helens a crucial win.

Wellens was happy with the character his side showed to turn it round following a poor start.

He said: “To win a game like that is always nice when you come out the right side of the result.

“Obviously a huge play from Jonny, when you’re in that moment and receive the ball there was probably a lot things going through his head.

“But, what you’ve got to do is stay calm, be composed and execute and he did a good job of that.

“It was a vital two points for us, not the best of games in terms of a spectacle, but a great way to finish the game.”

St Helens have now won two successive games after their disappointing Challenge Cup exit and Wellens underlined the importance of their victory.

He added: “The learning we need to take from tonight is we had two or three plays in the first 10 minutes and it told in the scoreboard so we got beat to the punch – we can’t allow that happen in big games moving forward.

“From that moment on defensively we were spot on again. We’re not fortunate but pleased to come out on the right side of the result.

“We’ve won two games off the back of a disappointing result but we’ve got to build on that and improve – If you finish high up the table at the end of the year not many people will remember the round nine Huddersfield game where we won by a point but that is a valuable two points tonight.”

Huddersfield boss Ian Watson felt his side deserved to win following their good start.

He said: “Two different halves. In the first half, we were the better team and second half the Saints were.

“Them kind of games Saints are used to being in them tight games and have come through the other side but I think we deserved it.

“The character and resilience we showed was outstanding. Even the barrage Saints threw on us in the second half, to concede on a dummy-half carry was disappointing but that’s the only way they broke us down tonight.

“We can take the confidence out of it with the way we’ve played in the last few weeks – unluckily for us Jonny nailed the drop goal at the end.”