‘Like a striker in the box’ - St Helens boss praises hat-trick hero after Huddersfield win

Fleet-footed winger Tommy Makinson moved a few steps closer to reaching 200 tries in a stellar career at Saints by notching a first-half hat-trick against lowly Huddersfield Giants at the Totally Wicked Stadium on Sunday.

But the final 32-18 scoreline didn’t tell the full story of a helter-skelter encounter in which the defending champions had a one-man advantage over the struggling Yorkshire visitors from the 37th minute when one of their former players, Joe Greenwood, was given his marching orders for elbowing an opponent just  30 seconds after stepping off the substitutes’ bench.

It seemed game, set and match after Greenwood’s alleged misdemeanor but Saints still made heavy weather of picking up maximum points with only two late second-half tries  ensuring they crossed the winning line for their 14th victory in 21 Betfred Super League outings.

The champions’ victory lifted them to third spot in the table, above Leigh Leopards, but head coach Paul Wellens had mixed thoughts when assessing the match as a whole, describing his club’s performance as far from ideal against 12 men.

He said: "It may seem peculiar but I think the worst thing that happened was Greenwood being sent off. I spoke to the players about it and I think from that point on we expected things to come easy.

"I’ve seen so many times in the past, 12 men galvanising a team. The Giants worked for each other and found something a bit different and we didn’t really respond positively enough."

Wellens added: "I never felt comfortable out there as I didn’t like the manner we dropped our expected standards. The players have just come off the field and know that. At the same time that can be a positive because we are going to have to do something about it.”

The head coach, however, praised the display of winger Makinson whose hat-trick took his try tally to 184 from 307 domestic appearances and the 31-year-old England international will surely reach that magical milestone before he finally hangs up his boots.

His boss said: "I suppose Tommy is like a football striker in the box. If you want anyone on the end of the line to finish those chances, it is Tommy.."