St Helens continued their wonderful form against Warrington Wolves with an enthralling 24-20 win at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. In front of the a raucous away following, the champions secured a vital late try through Lewis Dodd to keep their hopes of five in a row alive.
Once again Daryl Powell was left gutted in his box as he watched his side lose their fourth consecutive game, despite a much-improved performance compared to last week. Key moments went against them, including one obvious forward pass that led to a Saints try, and they still just came up short against the champions.
This is a stadium that Saints haven’t lost at since 2019 and they continued their wonderful form despite a hard-fought battle. Jonny Lomax took the man of the match award from Betfred after his sensational performance culminated in a late powerful try, but it was a topsy-turvy game from the first minute.
In front of a cracking atmosphere, Stefan Ratchford converted an early penalty for the hosts - but Mark Percival put St Helens in front after some great hands by Jack Welsby, as Percival evaded a late challenge to get over the line.
Warrington responded though, as they would several times over the course of the evening. They were given a set restart just yards from the tryline and they used it to perfection as Matty Ashton found enough space on the left as St Helens found themselves short of numbers. Missed conversion kept it at 6-6.
St Helens’ James Bell celebrated his new contract by putting Saints back ahead, but the pass to Welsby in the build-up was clearly forward, although not spotted by the referee. The home fans were left frustrated as that pass was so key to the scoring of the try, and Saints went 12-6 in front.
Ashton doubled his score as he made an epic interception and then ran the length of the pitch in the second half to put the hosts back in it. 12-12. All to play for. A penalty put the hosts in front, before a sensational try from Dufty put the Wire in front.
It was another incredible try, as the back three tore Saints apart with an amazing run from 90. Ben Currie did brilliantly to start the move and Dufty finished it in style with a burst of pace that extended their lead.
Just as it looked like the Wire were on top. Jonny Lomax and Welsby played a sensational one-two that tore through the heart of the Warrington defence as Lomax got the ball back after his driving run to cross from close range.
This game was an absolute thriller, from end-to-end, but Saints kept on coming and Welsby beat two players before getting it to Lewis Dodd, who found the try line despite big pressure. Daryl Powell couldn’t believe what he was watching as the Saints fans went wild in the away end at the Halliwell Jones. 20-24.
The end of the game became scrappy, but that is what the visitors wanted. In the end, it was their fans behind the posts that celebrated at full-time and now there feels like a real belief that St Helens, now up to third, can go all the way yet again.
