Super League: St Helens make a late comeback to defeat struggling rivals Warrington Wolves
Champions St Helens reverse an eight-point deficit in the closing 20 minutes to upset rivals Warrington; Will Dagger kicks a golden point drop goal as Wakefield beat Wigan 27-26; Six-try Leigh gain their first win at The Jungle since 1987, piling pressure on faltering Castleford
Champions St Helens rallied from an eight-point deficit in the final 20 minutes to defeat rivals Warrington 24-20 in a Betfred Super League thriller on Friday.
The Wolves had threatened to turn their season around with early second-half tries from Matty Ashton (his second of the night) and Matt Dufty, who placed them 20-12 ahead at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
However, Jonny Lomax and Lewis Dodd scored two tries in quick succession to help the Saints win.
That consigned Warrington to their sixth defeat in seven games, but the nature of their performance should give under-fire coach Daryl Powell optimism that their season, which began with eight consecutive wins, is not about to collapse.
Warrington may also be upset by the manner of one of Saints’ earlier tries, which saw James Bell score after an apparent forward pass in the build-up.
The hosts started strongly and earned their first points in the first half of a contest in four games when Stefan Ratchford converted an early penalty off a superb break by Dufty.
Dufty soon had the Saints backpedaling again with another counter-attack, but this time there was little to show for the opportunity.
Saints replied with terrific pressure, and Mark Percival gave them the lead with a fast inside stride that caught Dufty off guard.
He converted his own goal, but Warrington equalised when Ben Currie found Ashton in the corner with a thunderbolt of a cut-out pass.
Parity did not last long, as the Saints recovered the lead in questionable fashion moments later.
Jack Welsby seemed to receive the ball from Dodd’s forward pass, but with no whistle from referee Jack Smith, the full-back advanced deep into Warrington territory.
With the hosts on the back foot, the ball was offloaded to Lomax, whose lay-off was completed by Bell.
After Percival added the extras to bring the score 12-6 at halftime, the home fans may have feared another defeat.
Powell’s troops were given a way back into the game when Ashton intercepted an overambitious Welsby pass 20 metres from his own goalline and surged free to score.
Ratchford’s goal leveled the score, and a penalty shortly after gave Wire a 14-12 lead.
Warrington, clearly energized, took command of the game with a magnificent length-of-the-field try.
