SAINTS produced a horror show to suffer a humiliating Challenge Cup exit in front of their own supporters.

It was the first time Saints had lost a home cup tie since 1995 and this was arguably their worst display in the competition for a long, long while.

Keiron Cunningham’s men were patchy on both sides of the ball – and Hull FC ruthlessly exposed some defensive frailties to make them pay.

Admittedly Hull were white-hot, make no mistake but some shocking individual errors contributed to Saints' downfall, and they were on the slide shortly after Mark Percival had given them an early lead.

The scale of the defeat, especially given this is Saints at virtually full strength bar the two wingers, is a massive shock to the system and leaves the coaching staff with a battle to get the season back on track.

Saints started well with Percival twisting over the line from close range after taking Jonny Lomax's fine pass in the fifth minute.

Luke Walsh goaled from out wide but alas the Black and Whites soon began to put Saints on the back foot.

And with the defence back-pedalling they soon levelled when ex-Saint Leon Pryce pierced the line before feeding alert hooker Danny Houghton.

Saints then allowed Scott Taylor to look like a world beater as he smashed through some weak tackling to put Hull FC in front.

After a Marc Sneyd 40-20 kick, the Hull scrum half sent Ellis slicing through for Hull's third try.

The game was swiftly going from Saints but when skipper Jon Wilkin's short pass sent Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook over, converted by Walsh to give them a toe-hold.

Howeverm Hull were blasting holes up Saints’ middle and a powerful run from Mark Minichiello laid the platform for full-back Jamie Shaul to dash past a marker-less ruck from dummy-half for Hull's fourth try.

A Sneyd conversion and a drop goal on the stroke of half-time turned it into a three-score advantage at 25-12 at the break.

Saints had showed nothing to illustrate they could claw that back, but the following 40 minutes became increasingly frustrating and embarrassing.

Fetuli Talanoa nearly notched another but had his try disallowed for a knock-on in the build-up and then it took a wonder tackle from Lomax to stop the big man inches short after Hull had engineered space on the left.

Those Hull misses gave Saints a brief spur to rally and Walsh showed what he can do when, after taking Atelea Vea’s offload he used winger Matty Dawson shrewdly to dash 35 metres for the third try.

Walsh kicked his third goal but that was as good as it got and Hull steamrollered an increasingly bedraggled Saints outfit for the remainder of the game.

Tries from Curtis Naughton, Kirk Yeaman and Taylor’s second underlined that Hull could score in any part of the pitch.

Talanoa gave Saints a reminder of what they were missing on the flanks when he produces a Makinson special at the corner flag to wrap up the scoring with Hull's eighth try of the night.

This utterly humiliating defeat in a competition that Saints and their supporters hold dear to their hearts will lead to plenty of soul searching this week as they switch their focus on to making the top four.

And how the team responds in the crucial weeks to come should have a bearing on who is wearing the red vee next season.