Pictures Eddie Whitham
WARRINGTON Wolves’ hopes of finishing in the top two of Super League were all but ended by St Helens in an exciting game on Monday night.
The Wolves had fought back from 10-0 down to lead 14-10 at half time but they had no answer to the champions after the break, with tries from Mark Percival and James Bentley earning them a 24-14 victory.
Saints set out to avenge their 6-2 loss at home to the Wolves earlier in the season and they were dominant in both possession and territory in the opening exchanges, as Warrington struggled to get out of their own end.
They held out until the 16th minute, Jack Welsby playing at stand-off adding some pace down the right hand and timing his pass to perfection to allow Kevin Naiqama to charge past Toby King close to the line for the opening try.
A second try shortly followed, a lovely break down the short side by Lewis Dodd, who found Lachlan Coote on his inside and the Scotland full-back returned the ball to Dodd who sidestepped past Ben Currie to score.
Gradually, Warrington found a foothold in the game and superstar signing George Williams orchestrated them in to the lead by half time.
First, he stepped through a gap to race away and find Ben Currie for a try, and then he got on the end of a brilliant off the cuff last tackle play down the right, Josh Thewlis kicking forward from Jake Mamo’s offload and Williams beating Coote to the bouncing back and racing 20 metres to score in the corner.
Stefan Ratchford converted both and then added a penalty on the stroke of half time to give Warrington an unlikely 14-10 lead.
In front of a packed house at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, there was a sense of occasion that has been lacking in the desperate past 18 months and the game was well and truly on.
Unfortunately, lady luck was against the Wolves. A high kick from Williams bounced back to Mamo, who had the ball pinched by Joe Batchelor, his pass finding Percival who went on a mazy run to score a spectacular try from 70 metres out to give Saints the lead.
Warrington struggled to find their way to the Saints end, a short kick by Williams going dead at the corner the closest they came.
The bounce of the ball went in Saints’ favour just before the hour mark, as Welsby’s chip kick stood up on Ratchford, who slipped when wrongfooted and James Bentley was the grateful recipient to fall over the line for a try.
The Wolves tried to get back in the match with 10 minutes to play, Ratchford dragging a penalty across the front of the posts which would have got them back within a score, but they remained behind and the deficit was stretched to 10 when Coote added a penalty with four minutes to play.
Moments earlier, Tom Lineham had been sinbinned for a high tackle on Coote and the game ended with a melee on the hooter, as both Bentley and Gareth Widdop were shown yellow cards after a scuffle on the floor.
Warrington remain third in the table, while Saints will have a chance to close the gap to Catalans at the top when they travel to France at the weekend.
Warrington: Ratchford, Lineham, King, Mamo, Thewlis, Williams, Widdop, Hill, D Clark, Philbin, Currie, Hughes, J Clark. Subs: Walker, Mulhern, Akauola, Longstaff.
St Helens: Coote, Makinson, Naiqama, Percival, Grace, Welsby, Dodd, Walmsley, Roby, Lees, Mata’utia, Bentley, Knowles. Subs: McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Paasi, Batchelor, Wingfield.
