1. Being 18-10 down on Friday against a determined and desperate Hull side who had only lost once at home this year was a big challenge for Saints.

And when Danny Houghton drilled the ball into touch on the last tackle, presumably to slow the game down, stop the clock and pen Saints into their own quarter we knew Hull felt they could manage the conclusion of the game.

Royce Simmons – a former coach of both Hull and Saints – once explained that teams “can’t play to hang on”.

There was maybe an element in that negative piece of play. It gave Saints the ball back, there was no panic, and they were able to get themselves back into the position where Ben Barba’s second try gave them the foothold.

2. At a key point on Friday, skipper James Roby grabbed the game by the lapels and dragged it Saints’ way. He found the gaps that got Saints rolling forward.

Sometimes when you are dazzled by a super, exciting talent like Ben Barba it can be easy to overlook the consistent excellence of a player who simply does it every week.

It maybe easier to spot the match winning brilliance of Barba, but Roby for me should be heading for his second Steve Prescott man of Steel and deserves all the plaudits he gets.

3. And we can’t move on without commenting on the man of the match performance from Jonny Lomax.

Outstanding at 1 the week before and brilliant again against Hull, particularly in the second half, Lomax his hitting the peak of his powers.

His second try illustrated his key skills; he reads the game well, knows where to run, has the audacity to sell dummies that opponents will fall for and the strength and determination to ride tackles.

Since his return to playing in the halves this year, Lomax has it in some brave performance, taking the ball to the line and copping a bit of punishment.

But after those couple of hellish injury-hit years it is good to see Lomax getting some deserved rewards.

4. Prior to the game, the second leg of the Steve Prescott Cup, the hosts played a wonderful video montage of the former ace full back’s playing and challenge career.

It was a quick and poignant reminder of this special person – and wonderful to see Steve’s family present the cup to Saints after the game (even if most of the crowd had drifted off by then)

5. Talking of the crowd, Hull have always been a loud set, but the Saints contingent in the corner must have had amplifiers with them. They never stopped singing and encouraging, even at 18-10 down.

It is huge effort getting over the M62 on a Friday, particularly when most week’s the closures inflict a midnight tour of Yorkshire and Lancashire A roads on travellers, so it was brilliant to see and hear those fans.

6. Zeb Taia tweeted on Saturday morning that he had suffered a compound thumb dislocation and would be out for a couple of weeks.

Taia has been playing well – so hopefully it is the two weeks only. That will hopefully mean that he will be fit for the semi against Catalans.

In his absence, it will be interesting to see whether Justin Holbrook will put Morgan Knowles there, although it would probably cause less disruption putting Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook or Jack Ashworth in the second row for the games against Wigan and Warrington.