Saints see off Sandow-less Wolves

ST Helens brought Warrington Wolves’ unbeaten home record to an end with a 25-22 win at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

The visitors continued their hoodoo over Warrington as Kurt Gidley was made to rue a missed conversion five minutes from time.

That missed kick meant that when Tom Lineham scored with just a minute to go, the Wolves had to turn down a conversion attempt to try and find a decisive score at the death which didn’t come.

Missing inspirational scrum-half Chris Sandow, sidelined through a hamstring injury, Warrington turned out an uninspiring performance against an unfancied Saints side who had won five from nine before this.

Saints started spritely but they fell behind after seven minutes when Kevin Penny out jumped Jack Owens to claim Stefan Ratchford’s cross field kick.

The lead was 10-0 on 12 minutes when Ryan Atkins powered through a gap to the line after a spell of pressure from the hosts.

Saints fought back though, supported by a teasing kicking game by Luke Walsh and a masterful half-back display from young Frenchman Theo Fages.

Kyle Amor scored with virtually his first touch of the ball, stretching over from close range, and after Penny’s kick off went out on the full, Saints made the territory pay through Jack Ashworth.

Walsh’s two conversions edged Saints 12-10 in front, and they forced some pressure as mistakes from Matty Russell and Tom Lineham kept the Wolves on the back foot.

But two big plays from Penny and hooker Daryl Clark enabled Warrington to end the first half on the front foot, and it was Ben Currie who crashed over the line on the last tackle as he ran over Jordan Turner and Jake Spedding on the left edge.

During the interval the 13,000 plus crowd were entertained by a fire display.

Warrington forced a handful of repeat sets at the start of the second half, but it was Saints who grabbed the first score after the break, Matty Dawson finding a gap to take a lovely pass by Fages and put Saints 16-14 to the good.

The game turned in to an arm wrestle, Warrington perhaps hard done to when a Fages break from inside his own half earned Saints a scrum, despite Lineham appearing to knock the ball backwards.

Shortly afterwards, a tough challenge by Atkins on Jon Wilkin gave Saints a penalty within kicking range, and Walsh duly obliged to make it 18-14.

The game breaking moment perhaps came 11 minutes from time when Russell fumbled Walsh’s clever kick through, enabling Morgan Knowles to touch down.

Walsh’s kick put Saints 10 to the good, and when the former Penrith scrum-half added a drop goal, Saints looked home and dry at 25-14.

As it was, Warrington did at least threaten an unlikely comeback.

Benjamin Julien took a short ball through the middle and offloaded for Atkins, who found Currie on the left to suck in the defenders and send Penny over in the corner for his second try of the game.

Crucially Gidley, who hadn’t trained all week and had left the other conversion attempts to Ben Westwood, scuffed the conversion wide of the far post, leaving the Wolves still two scores behind.

It proved too tall of an order. They did manage one score, when Stefan Ratchford’s neat chip was claimed by Lineham on the right with barely over a minute left to play, Warrington decided not to take the conversion attempt to save time.

They played out three tackles and then shifted left, but Ratchford’s kick for Penny was too wide and the ball went dead to confirm a gutsy win for Saints.

Warrington: Russell, Penny, Currie, Atkins, Lineham, Gidley, Ratchford, Hill, Clark, Sims, Westwood, Hughes, Westerman. Subs: R Evans, G King, Julien, Philbin.

St Helens: McDonnell, Owens, Turner, Dawson, Spedding, Fages, Walsh, Walmsley, Roby, Savelio, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Ashworth, Wilkin. Subs: Amor, Richards, Thompson, Knowles.