Kristian Woolf's reaction to Saints' 11-try win at Hull FC

It was looking like a different game at first with Hull's Jack Walker drawing first blood and it looked like Saints were in for a torrid afternoon.

Nobody in the first quarter would have predicted an 11-try rout.

"I liked the energy we started with and the intent, but what I was happiest with was our ability to stay in the dog fight and wear them down," Woolf said.

"Our best period was just before half-time, where we played some really good footy and scored some really nice tries and we had to work hard to find those points."

Woolf was happy with the impact that the bench middles had - two-try Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Agnatius Paasi - playing a key role on Saints getting on top.

"I thought Louie and Iggy came off the bench and had a massive impact for us.

"Those two tries that Louie scored were really big effort plays and he got the rewards for it which was great to see," he said.

There was also praise for the returning Will Hopoate, who showed his classy touches linking from full back - crossing for a try for the cherry on the top of a fine individual performance.

"He has had a terrible year with injury and he's played out of position, but he's just a footy player.

"Whenever he's played at fullback he's played with class and showcased that again today," he added.

Saints are now six points clear - with Wigan losing at Wakefield - and he now switches attention to Friday night at home to Hull KR.

"We've had a good win there, but we need to make sure we don't fall in love with ourselves and focus on a big game against Hull KR next week on a short turnaround," he said.

Hull boss Brett Hodgson was left scratching his head after another collapse, and conceded his side are in a real slump in form.

"I thought we started the game really well but after 30 minutes we weren't willing to do what we had to when tired," he said.

"We gave away some really cheap tries which was disappointing and the start of the second half was really poor.

"We were trying to chase points instead of earning them but it's hard to process why that happened. We'll have to have a hard look at the video and have some hard talks tomorrow."

Hodgson, whose side took a fifth-minute lead through Jack Walker's converted try, did point out his team were still far from their strongest in terms of players available but made no excuses for the manner in which they capitulated once again.

"It's important to realise that we still have nine of our best players on the sideline and losing Jack Walker hurt our rotation," he said.

"There are still players out there trying their hardest, but they are doing it alone at the moment, which is causing us to concede points.

"We have to realise that if we defend together that we can defend those moments, but we switched off in pivotal moments and the heat starts to become a factor."