St Helens boss Paul Wellens was pleased with the way his side handled adversity to claim a dramatic win over Catalans Dragons on Saturday night. The Saints had lost their last two Super League games but they put it together in France with a Jonny Lomax drop goal giving them a 14-13 win.
Tristan Sailor put St Helens two scores up inside the opening 10 minutes of the game, with the stand-off finishing two moves started by Jack Welsby at the Stade Gilbert Brutus. Catalans hit back, though, with Sam Tomkins getting a brace of his own before the interval.
A Tomkins penalty ensured the scores were level heading into the final 10 minutes before three drop goals were kicked. Lomax got the first to hand Saints the advantage before Luke Keary responded with a one-pointer of his own. With just over 90 seconds remaining, though, the visitors put Lomax in a position to kill the game off and he did just that.
Saints needed the result, which was their first in France since 2018, and it takes them up third in the table, with Hull FC and Hull KR the only sides above them at the time of writing.
“It was two good teams going at it,” Wellens told Sky Sports after the game. “I thought both teams really handled the conditions as best they could because, for those watching at home, it’s a lot worse than it probably looks.
“Credit to both sets of players. We’re just thankful that we came out on the right end of the result.
“I thought it was a bit frantic at the end and we forced a few things. Once we settled and stuck to what we’d practised we managed to execute a couple of field goals which were really important for us. Those games are settled by fine margins and thankfully the old fella came up trumps at the end.”
St Helens lost Harry Robertson just a couple of minutes into the contest with the youngster picking up a head knock, and that made the challenge even greater on the night.
“That’s where good players like Matt Whitley, who can play in different positions really do help with Jake Wingfield going to the back-row. We shuffled a few things around but the lads handled it well,” Wellens added when asked about how his side dealt with the disruption.
What a finish for @Saints1890! 💪#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/dWA21AcJrK
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) March 29, 2025
