Saints slip past Warrington

St Helens have got their Super 8s campaign off to a flyer with a thrilling two-point victory over Warrington.

In an intense battle at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, Saints got out to a late 12-20 lead and just held on to win 18-20 after Ryan Atkins‘ try.

Chris Hill thought he had found an early breakthrough for the Wolves, but the try was disallowed after confirmation from the video referee there was a double movement.

Midway through the first half, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook bundled over after taking Jordan Turner’s pass. Mark Percival nailed the conversion to give the Saints a 0-6 lead.

Just as it began to look Saints might prevent the Wolves from scoring before the interval, Daryl Clark squeezed over from dummy half with ten minutes remaining.

Then Jonny Lomax rounded off a brilliant team move by the Saints after Adam Swift’s break down the line. The visitors took a 6-12 lead into the break.

Percival kicked a second-half penalty after Chris Hill’s foul on Alex Walmsley to then give the Saints an eight-point lead.

Jack Hughes profiteered from a great offload by Kurt Gidley to touch down and help bring the Wolves back to within two points in the 63rd minute.

Then Turner crossed, shaking off the challenges of several Warrington players to send the Saints 12-20 ahead.

At the other end, Ryan Atkins showed incredible speed to race out of dummy half and cruise through the Saints line to touch down.

Rhys Evans looked to have won the game for the Wolves with a late dive in the corner, but the video referee disallowed the try as Percival had forced Evans into touch.

St Helens‘ victory, their sixth in a row, was confirmed.