St Helens star sent off for bruising shoulder charge

St Helens have seen centre Mark Percival sent off for a high shot that may well split the opinion of fans with the Red Vee down to 12 but leading 14-6.

Just minutes into the second half Percival was shown red by referee Tom Grant on the advice of video referee Marcus Griffiths with Grant explaining that there were “no mitigating circumstances” in the shot.

St Helens had been caught on the counter due to a brilliant Nene Macdonald pass that allowed Deon Cross open field to run into.

After Cross was brought down, Macdonald forced a quick play the ball and initiated a shift to the right which saw Saints centre Mark Percival try and make the aggressive read to step up and meet Jack Ormondroyd.

Unfortunately for St Helens and for Percival, the veteran got the shot wrong and ended up landing a shoulder charge on Ormondroyd with no clear attempt to wrap at all.

The red card being shown triggered huge boos from the home crowd before a rallying cry as they got behind their side in an attempt to carry them home.

St Helens man can have no complaints

Former St Helens captain Jon Wilkin was on commentary for the game broadcast on Sky Sports and when asked for his opinion if the offence was worthy of a red card, the no-nonsense pundit was clear.

“Yes, it’s a red card,” Wilkin explained.

“He hits him in the head. In the modern rules, it’s a red. It’s not like Fa’amanu Brown where it’s accidental, he makes an aggressive read and he gets it wrong.”

Had Percival not shot out of the line to try and make the tackle then Salford would have had a very strong chance at creating an overload on their right wing, hence the aggression shown defensively by the centre.

There will now be a nervous wait for Percival to see if his side can manage to hold on, but also until Monday when the Match Review Panel meet and decide if he will be serving a large ban or not.

With half an hour to go the game still stands at 14-6 but has since been littered with errors and penalties as both sides try to adapt to the new dynamics of the game.

Saints had gone ahead early on via Jack Welsby before Lewis Dodd raced away to add a second within 20 minutes. The Red Devils answered back through Deon Cross before Percival himself scored just before half time.

St Helens have since gone further ahead with another Lewis Dodd try to make it 20-6 with 20 minutes to go.