St Helens head off Halifax's challenge
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Martin Gleeson won the battle of the young centres as the Challenge Cup holders St Helens yesterday held off a spirited challenge from Halifax to win 26-20 and earn a place in the last four where they face Leeds, who beat Wakefield 46-10 on Saturday.
The 21-year-old Gleeson demonstrated his potential with two tries, his first for the club, to win his duel with Stuart Donlan. The youngsters enhanced their reputations in a free-flowing game at The New Shay.
St Helens began strongly, but were forced to hang on after Donlan's 64th-minute converted try brought the home side back to within six points.
The holders provided an early glimpse of their danger out wide when they engineered an overlap for the left winger Darren Albert to run in a try less than three minutes into the game. They were again at their best on 18 minutes when Gleeson touched down and just before the break Sean Long claimed a third try.
A midfield burst and long cut-out pass from Shayne McMenemy enabled Donlan to get Colum Halpenny over for a try and Jamie Bloem gave his side renewed hope when he forced his way over. Penalties from Danny Tickle brought Halifax to 22-14, but Gleeson's second try and Long's fifth goal looked to have booked Saints' semi-final place until Donlan won the race to Andrew Dunemann's kick to the line.
Castleford ended Doncaster's hopes of reaching the semi-finals for the first time with a 32-14 victory, but only after a second-half scare. The Dragons stormed back from 22-0 down after 16 minutes to cut the deficit to 22-14 10 minutes into the second half. The Super League side finally put the game beyond the Northern Ford Premiership side's reach with late tries from Jon Wells and Michael Eager.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments