Saints marched to the top of the Betfred Super League table after a convincing 38-12 victory over Warrington Wolves at a rocking Totally Wicked Stadium on Friday night!
First half-tries from Mark Percival, Louie McCarthy- Scarsbrook and Jonny Lomax gave us a half-time lead, despite Blake Austin’s early try for the visitors.
And we kicked on in the second half thanks to scores from Matty Lees, a 70-yard run from Regan Grace and a late try from Tommy Makinson which gave Saints a resounding victory in the top of the table clash.
A blistering start to the game from both teams created an electric atmosphere inside the Totally Wicked Stadium and it was Saints who were first to put points on the board through a Lachlan Coote penalty after the Warrington defence struggled to deal with the power of Alex Walmsley. Coote giving Saints a 2-0 lead.
In a frantic opening 20 minutes, it was Warrington who got the opening try after an excellent tackle from Jonny Lomax on Daryl Clark forced the ball loose and Blake Austin pounced to pick up and score giving Warrington a 6-2 lead.
Saints pressure on the Warrington line finally told when on the last tackle Coote found Grace out wide and he passed the ball back inside to Percival who crashed through two Warrington defenders to score. Coote knocked over another penalty making it Saints 8-6 Warrington.
Saints then produced three minutes of magic with two quick-fire tries! The first from LMS who smashed through three defenders to score underneath the post before Lomax went over minutes later after throwing the dummy and then stepping back inside both Austin and Murdoch-Masaila before touching down.
Saints started the second as they did the first and were inches from extending the lead through LMS, but he was adjudged to have knocked on.
Warrington then on the very next set went over in the corner through Daryl Clark after the hooker crashed over from close range making it Saints 20-12 Wolves.
That try didn’t stop the Saints as they hit back almost instantly after a high bomb from Coote was allowed to bounce and there was Matty Lees to collect and score! Coote added the extras giving Saints a 26-12 lead.
Saints were in again in a matter of minutes and this was all down to our flying winger Regan Grace. The Welshman took the ball inside his own 30 meters and broke the line to then run 70 metres turning Stefan Ratchford inside out to score. The West Terrace went wild!
After scoring the try Grace was hit late by Tom Lineham resulting in a penalty try being awarded with Coote adding both kicks.
The tries didn’t stop there though as on the very next set, the ball was switched from left to right with Naiqama breaking the line and Makinson finishing in the corner giving Saints a 38-12 victory over Warrington Wolves and sent the Red Vee back to the top of the Super League summit.
Match Summary:
Saints:
Tries: Percival (20), LMS (35), Lomax (38), Lees (51), Grace (60), Makinson (65).
Goals: Coote (4 from 6)
Penalties: 3
Starting 13: Lachlan Coote, Tommy Makinson, Kevin Naiqama, Mark Percival, Regan Grace, Jonny Lomax, Danny Richardson, Alex Walmsley, James Roby, Luke Thompson, Zeb Taia, Dom Peyroux, Morgan Knowles.
Interchanges: Joseph Paulo, LMS, Kyle Amor, Matty Lees.
Warrington Wolves:
Tries: Austin (14), Clark (46)
Goals: Ratchford (2 from 2)
Starting 13: Stefan Ratchford, Tom Lineham, Ryan Atkins, Toby King, Josh Charnley, Blake Austin, Dec Patton, Chris Hill, Daryl Clark, Mike Cooper, Ben Currie, Jack Hughes, Joe Philbin.
Interchanges: Ben Murdoch-Masila, Jason Clark, Lama Tasi, Matty Davis.
HT: 20-6
FT: 38-12
REF: J. Child
ATT: 17.078
Platty Photos captured the win
