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Matty Ashton goes in at the corner - Picture @warringtonrlfc

Wolves edged out by Saints in thriller as slide down Super League table continues

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By on  SPORT, Wolves News

ST HELENS fought from eight points behind to beat Warrington Wolves 24-20 in a Friday night thriller at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Matty Ashton’s interception score and a wonderful team try finished off by Matt Dufty had turned the game on its head midway through the second half, with Daryl Powell’s side opening up a 20-12 lead.

But the four-time reigning champions fought back, with Jack Welsby putting on tries for Jonny Lomax and Lewis Dodd, both converted by Mark Percival, to restore the Saints lead and they maintained it to the hooter.

It means Daryl Powell’s side’s tumble down the Super League table continues with their sixth defeat in seven games.

There were positive signs in comparison to some of their other performances though, especially in the middle part of the game where they dug in to fightback.

An early penalty had the Wolves in front before Saints got the first try of the evening on 16 minutes, Welsby’s long pass finding Mark Percival in space to run in on the left.

The scores were levelled at 6-all 10 minutes later when after some pressure, the Wolves earned a six-again call and moved the ball left for Ashton to slide over in the corner for his first try.

There was a question mark over the second Saints try, with more than a suspicion of a forward pass as Dodd released Welsby, and he managed to get the ball across for James Bell to race in for 12-6, which is how the score stood at the break.

By the hour mark though, Warrington had turned the game on its head. They were put under some pressure by Saints and looked all set to score on their right, before Ashton plucked an interception out of the air and couldn’t be caught over 90 metres.

That levelled the scores and a few minutes later, a Ratchford penalty goal from 30 metres out bang in front put the Wolves ahead at 14-12.

They scored a superb try to stretch that lead on 55 minutes. Put under pressure deep in their own half, the Wolves moved the ball long and left, with Ben Currie piercing through and finding an offload for Stefan Ratchford who kept his cool to release Dufty to race away for the final 40 metres.

Hopes raised for the home fans after an indifferent run of form, but they could do nothing to stop the brilliance of Lomax, who shared a wonderful 1-2 pass with Welsby 10 metres from the line to go over under the posts.

And then on 67 minutes, on the last tackle, Welsby slipped away from a defender and was able to offload for Dodd to find the line.

Warrington put pressure on Saints with a couple of high kicks on the last, but soon got in to frustrating penalty trouble that let Saints off the hook.

First, they were penalised, perhaps harshly, for stripping the ball out of Konrad Hurrell’s grasp in a tackle, and then Gil Dudson was penalised for leaving his knee in a tackle on Matty Lees.

In the end, time ran out, and Powell cut a frustrated figure in his coach’s box as once again the Wolves were made to rue a missed opportunity as they slip to fifth in the table.

Warrington: Dufty, Russell, Minikin, Ratchford, Ashton, Mata’utia, Drinkwater, Dudson, Clark, Vaughan, Currie, Whitehead, Philbin. Subs: Walker, Bullock, Holroyd, Green.

St Helens: Welsby, Hopoate, Hurrell, Percival, Bennison, Lomax, Dodd, Walmsley, Roby, Lees, Mata’utia, Bell, Knowles. Subs: Lussick, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Paasi, Delaney.


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Journalist and sport content specialist, who is also editor of Love Rugby League. Formerly ran the official website of the Carling Cup, as well as operating a digital services business in Warrington.

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