Andrade Hat-Trick Fires York Valkyrie Past St Helens in Play-Off Push
Savannah Andrade scored a first-half hat-trick as York Valkyrie beat St Helens 28-18 on the road, tightening their grip on a Betfred Women's Super League play-off place with two matches remaining.
Andrade needed just 16 minutes to take the game by the scruff. She twice powered over from close range, and each time Tara-Jane Stanley added the conversion — the kick after a try, worth two points in rugby league. Then Stanley crossed for a try of her own and kicked the conversion herself, stretching York's lead to 18-0 before St Helens could draw breath. BBC Sport
St Helens, playing at home, found a foothold before the break through Vicky Whitfield — her third try of the season — and went into half-trailing but not out of it.
Three minutes after the restart, Alyx Bridge barged over from close range. Gaskin's conversion brought the home side back to within a score, and the momentum seemed to be shifting.
York's response was swift. Just before the hour mark, Adaoha Akwiwu crossed to restore daylight, and Stanley's fourth goal of the afternoon pushed the lead back out. That made it 28-12, and although Shona Hoyle-Holdsworth scored a converted try late on to set up a nervy finish for the visitors, York held firm.
The win carries real weight in the table. Third-placed York now sit two points clear of fourth-placed St Helens, with a play-off berth within touching distance. The top teams at the end of the regular season qualify for the knock-out rounds that decide the championship. BBC Sport
The two sides will meet again on 6 September, this time with York at home. St Helens will need a markedly better start than the one that left them 18 points down inside a quarter of the match.
Referee Lucas Seal took charge of the contest.
Andrade's treble was the story of the afternoon — three tries in the opening quarter, each one the product of hard, close-range carrying that St Helens simply could not repel. For a side chasing a play-off spot, that kind of early ferocity is exactly what a team wants from its forwards on the road.
