Saints ‘got out of jail free’ when Matty Smith dropped a goal late on to give them a 27 - 26 win against Salford.

But they have the width of a post to thank after Luke Robinson struck the woodwork on the stroke of full time.

With one eye on the Challenge Cup Quarter Final, Daniel Anderson made a whole host of changes with 17-year-old starlet Kyle Eastmond partnering Matty Smith.

Leon Pryce reverted back to full back – a position he has played for GB.

Elsewhere, Paul Clough slotted in at loose once again, injured pair Francis Meli and Willie Talau made a return and local boy Ste Tyrer replaced the injured Matt Gidley.

Fozzie returned from a chest infection to take a place on the bench.

For Salford, last week’s match winner against Huddersfield – ex Saint Gray Viane – made way for Stefan Ratchford.

Saints started brightly with a classic Cunningham dummy run making room for Matty Smith. Pryce then put in a high bomb which was caught by Meli, who forced his way over. But the referee ruled it out for obstruction.

The respite didn’t last for Salford however as just two minutes later Willie Talau evaded several would be tacklers to race fully 60 yards to score. Scully short with the extras.

On 10 minutes Saints bombed a certain try when Leon Pryce drew the defence 40 yards out giving Talau the opportunity to add his second. But smart wing play from Hodgson denied a try scoring pass to Meli.

A couple of minutes later smart offloading opened Salford up again, but Pryce failed to catch a low pass.

It proved to be an indicator for the early part of the match – Saints gaining possession and them knocking on when things got promising.

And how ironic it was that Salford would make the home side pay on 15 minutes. Dorn fed Berthezene and Luke Robinson took it to fire a beautiful cross field kick for Ratchford to score in the corner.

On the next set of six, Eastmond was flattened as he caught a bomb – the young lad refusing to leave the field although he was obviously dazed.

From the resultant penalty on the Saints 20, Matty Smith worked his magic by dancing to just 10 short – Leon Pryce doing the business on the next tackle.

But it was Pryce who turned villain a few minutes later when instead of kicking on the last tackle he forced one pass too many, leaving John Wilshire and Luke Dorn to exchange passes – sending the former in the corner. Hodgson landing a superb touchline conversion.

And lightning struck twice as eight before the end of the half, Pryce did the same – this time Hodgson going 70 yards to score.

Meli pulled a try back in the corner on the stroke of half time but straight from the kick off Gardner made a hash of a high ball; Coley kicking through to score.

Saints needed to score first in the second half and they nearly did. Scully kicked a marvellous 40-20 to put them in position. Gilly went close – judging to be on his back when most of the Pop Side thought he scored; then Scully drove to within inches.

Another penalty gave Saints more possession but Scott Moore failed to ground the ball correctly – again most of the species thinking it was a try.

Cunningham was cruelly denied on 53 minutes – referee Albert claiming he knocked on when it was clear to all that he didn’t.

And two minutes later a dubious looking grounding from Wilshire was given the benefit of the doubt, stretching the lead to 12.

But back came the Saints. Cunningham got his reward when a typical and mad-dash Saints' try got them back into it. The ball was kept alive thanks to smart and desperate play from Gilly and Meli – eventually working its way out to Scully, who flicked it inside to KC. The captain adding the extras.

Saints pilled on the pressure and finally got over the line when Gilly took a great pass with acres of space to stroll into. Scully brought the scores level.

Matty Smith and Luke Robinson traded drop out misses before Smith did the business.

Yet, lady luck was on Saints’ side as Luke Robinson hit the post with an effort of his own on the stroke of full time.

Daniel Anderson said: "It wasn't as tough for me to watch as some of the boys who sat out. We played flippantly at times and Salford got brave. Perhaps we needed a tight game to kick on. Credit to our young blokes like Matty Smith who scored the winning drop goal and Scott Moore who charged one down at the other end."

Match Summary:

Saints:

Tries: Talau, Pryce, Meli, Cunningham, Gilmour

Goals: Sculthorpe (3 from 5)

Drop: Smith

Tries: Ratchford, Wilshire (2), Hodgson, Coley

Goals: Wilshere (2 from 3), Hodgson (1 from 1)

Saints: 9

Salford: 4

HT: 14-22

FT: 27-26

ATT: 7,801

MOM: Leon Pryce

Leon Pryce, Ade Gardner, Ste Tyrer, Willie Talau, Francis Meli, Kyle Eastmond, Matty Smith, James Graham, Keiron Cunningham, Jason Cayless, Paul Sculthorpe, Lee Gilmour, Paul Clough. Subs: Scott Moore, Bryn Hargreaves, Nick Fozzard, Dean McGilvray.

John Wilshere, Stefan Ratchford, Stuart Littler, Kevin McGuinness, David Hodgson, Luke Dorn, Luke Robinson, Paul Highton, David Berthezene, Michael Korkidas, Andy Coley, Simon Finnigan. Subs: David Gower, Jordan Turner, Stephen Nash, Luke Adamson.