Injury-hit St Helens erased the pain of their 44-6 hammering at the KC Stadium back in May with a hard-fought victory against engage Super League rivals Hull.

Saints shrugged off the absence of seven key players to avenge their previous humiliation to John Kear's side and claim their fifth victory in six unbeaten Super League encounters under Daniel Anderson.

Australian international Jamie Lyon was again the star of the show, and it was his sparkling long-range try after 53 minutes which lit up the game and effectively sealed the points for Saints.

Such was the lack of bodies available to Saints that Anderson was forced to pair 17-year-old Scott Moore at scrum-half with fellow teenager Ian Hardman.

But they prospered in the absence of more illustrious names and contributed to condemning the visitors to yet another defeat at Knowsley Road.

Not since 1988 have Hull won at Saints' home, but they could not have wished for a better start after claiming the opening try in the first minute.

The impressive Richard Horne charged down Jon Wilkin's kick on Saints' 20-metre line before Richard Whiting collected the loose ball and grounded in the right-hand corner.

Danny Brough's woeful attempted conversion prevented Hull from claiming the extra two points, and Saints soon began to pen the visitors inside their own 20-metre line.

And after 13 minutes they were rewarded as a well-worked Saints move culminated in Mike Bennett taking Moore's clever short pass and crossing the line from close range.

Lyon added the extras to edge Saints ahead and the hosts quickly attempted to press home their advantage.

However, Hull's ferocious tackling, coupled with the intricate midfield probings of Horne and Paul Cooke, suggested the visitors had enough in their locker to finally end their Knowsley Road drought.

The pendulum of attacking momentum began to swing back towards the visitors as the half wore on as Hull started to dominate.

Whiting was inches away from claiming his second try after latching on to Horne's teasing grubber, only for the video referee to rule Hardman had reached the ball first.

Similarly, Lyon saw his effort ruled out by the video referee as Saints ended the opening period playing almost solely on the counter-attack.

The hosts improved markedly after the restart and following a period of sustained pressure, they moved further ahead.

Hull full-back Shaun Briscoe failed to deal with Moore's tidy grubber and Great Britain star Paul Wellens was on hand to touch down.

Lyon converted and then gave another glimpse of his awesome talent after 53 minutes.

Poor handling by Hull allowed Lyon to collect the ball on his 20-metre line and race clear of an outpaced visiting defence before grounding in style between the posts for his 15th Super League try of the season.

With the Australian again goaling successfully, Saints had considerable breathing space at 18-4.

Hull hit back on the hour mark when Kirk Yeaman grounded in the left-hand corner for a try converted by Cooke, but Saints held on to ensure the visitors' Knowsley Road problems continue.