Huddersfield (2) 6
Tries: Whaturia Goal: B Hodgson

St Helens (12) 23
Tries: Wellens, Gardner, Gilmour, Puletua, Wheeler Goal: Long Drop: Long

Huddersfield's Michael Lawrence is tackled by the Saints defence

St Helens continued their perfect start to the Super League season after overcoming spirited Huddersfield.

Brett Hodgson put the Giants ahead with an early penalty but Saints responded with unconverted tries from Paul Wellens, Ade Gardner and Lee Gilmour.

Paul Whaturia gave the home side hope with a try just after the break.

But new signing Tony Puletua scored on 75 minutes before Long claimed his 1,000th Saints goal with a drop-goal while Gary Wheeler crossed late on.

The late scores gave the visitors a flattering margin of victory as Saints failed to kill off a determined Giants side until the final five minutes.

And Long, who was wayward in the opening victory over Warrington, had another bad day with the boot - kicking one of his five conversion attempts.

Hodgson put Giants ahead after just four minutes but despite having the majority of possession, the home side could not break through the St Helens defence.

Saints were far more creative and Leon Pryce and Long combined to play in full-back Wellens for the first try on 14 minutes.

And five minutes later, Long's solo break set up the position from which Gardner marked his 200th appearance for the club with a try.

Centre Lee Gilmour claimed the third try on 31 minutes but with Long failing to convert any of the scores, the lead was only 12-2 at half-time.

And Giants hit back after the break when Whatuira re-gathered Luke Robinson's chip over the defence to score.

The home side piled on the pressure but mistakes at crucial times cost them dear and the impressive Puletua settled St Helens nerves with a close-range score.

Long added his drop-goal before sub Wheeler ended the scoring with a minute to go.

Huddersfield coach Nathan Brown:
"We've got some work to do if we want to catch up with St Helens. The first half wasn't great defensively, we conceded a couple of soft tries.

"We got over the line two or three times in the second half and got in a position to possibly do something.

"But there were some areas of the game where we let ourselves down. We didn't do a good enough job in the first half on Sean Long and Tony Puletua and you can't give freedom to those type of players."

St Helens coach Mick Potter:
"I was very concerned, Huddersfield were a good side last year and they are better this year.

"The final score didn't do justice to how close the game was. I thought we defended very well and came up with some good plays.

"I was very happy with the way things went. We were under a fair bit of pressure."

Huddersfield: B Hodgson, Aspinwall, Lawrence, Whaturia, D Hodgson, Brown, Robinson, Mason, Moore, D. Griffin, Raleigh, Wild, Finnigan.
Replacements: Lunt, Jackson, Korkidas, Lolesi.

St Helens: Wellens, Gardner, Gidley, Gilmour, Armstrong, Pryce, Long, Puletua, Cunningham, Hargreaves, Wilkin, Flannery, Clough.
Replacements: Fa'asavalu, Roby, Frodsham, Wheeler.

Referee: T Alibert (Toulouse)

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