Gateshead Thunder 6 St Helens 66

ST HELENS coach Mick Potter could find little fault with his players after they clinched a ninth successive Carnegie Challenge Cup semi-final appearance.

The reigning champions beat Gateshead 66-6 at the International Stadium and played some sparkling rugby against their Championship opponents, with Matt Gidley, Paul Wellens, Chris Flannery and Leon Pryce all scoring two tries each.

It was the first time the sides have met since Gateshead were a Super League club in 1999, andThunder were determined to make things as uncomfortable as possible for their visitors, narrowing the pitch to its minimum possible width.

But Potter was unfazed after seeing his men record an 18th straight win in the competition, and said: ‘‘I’m very pleased. We executed some plays very well.

‘‘There is always stuff you’d like to improve on but we found the balance where we took something out of the game, but there’s something there to improve on.

‘‘Given that the width of the field was taken right down to 55 metres we still played accordingly and managed to score through the middle and through the edge. It didn’t matter to us.’’ Gateshead coach Steve Mc- Cormack was happy to reflect on a proud day for his club.

hunder have endured some tough times on and off the field since they left the Super League a decade ago, but they displayed enough passion in front of a healthy crowd of 4,325 – their highest since their time in the top flight – to suggest that better times are to come for the club.

‘‘I think this is a historic day for this club,’’ McCormack said.

‘‘It was always going to be tough. I’m a realist and I knew the task at hand. I have watched Saints more than anybody over the last four months and they’re a fantastic side.

‘‘We’ll learn from that. You never enjoy losing games but against a fantastic side like that, I thought we competed and then Saints, as they do, can hit you with quick tries.

‘‘It’s important that we learn from the performance.

Gateshead sides will never give up.

“That’s the key. We were outclassed for long periods of the game because they were a little bit bigger and a little bit stronger than us.

‘‘We never gave up and at the back end of the first half we got over the try line and again in the second half we showed some good touches, but I thought Saints were fantastic and for a five to 10 minute period it was Harlem Globetrotter stuff.’’