St Helens were looking to maintain their perfect start to the season as they travelled to a troubled Halliwell-Jones Stadium to take on the Warrington Wolves. This is a fixture that the home crowd dread and the Wolves have an awful record against the Saints.
Warrington were without the services of Bryson Goodwin and Declan Patton (starting a five game suspension), replaced by Toby King and Kevin Brown but St Helens had Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook in for Jon Wilkin (concussion), with Matthew Lees brought in on the bench.
It was a daunting task for Warrington, up against a Saints side who came into the game as the leading scorers and with the best defence in the competition, having scored twice and many as the Wolves while conceeding half their total.
After almost constant Saints pressure, Mark Percival weaved his way through a broken Wolves defence to dive over the line for the opening try on six minutes. Danny Richardson added the conversion for a 6-0 lead.
Warrington weathered the Saints onslaught, and on twenty-three they opened their account when Toby King picked up a knocked back Tyrone Roberts kick to slide over. Stefan Ratchford added the conversion from the touchline to level the scores.
A Richardson penalty goal on thirty re-established the Saints lead but with very little to choose between the sides in an exciting game, that’s the way it remained until the half time interval.
Just forty-five seconds of the second half had elapsed when James Roby scooted from acting half-back to pinch a try from a Wolves defence that was still mentally in the changing room. Richardson added the conversion for a bit of daylight between the sides at 14-6.
Harvey Livett grabbed the Wolves a lifeline when he took a Toby King pass after a high kick to the corner to dive over in the corner. Ratchford added the conversion brilliantly from the touchline to again reduce the margin to two points.
On fifty-eight a superb pass from Ben Barba put Percival in for his second of the night but with Richardson missing the conversion the lead was just one converted try.
A sensational try on sixty-six sealed the Saints win. Richardson broke downfield before putting in a pinpoint accurate kick to the left wing which was collected on the third bounce by Percival who crossed to ground for his hat-trick try. Richardson added the extras for 24-12.
Richardson failed with a drop goal attempt on seventy-one but three minutes from time Danny Richardson scored Saints fifth try of the night picking up a Percival grubber to the sticks to dive over. Richardson added the extras for 30-12 and a confident and comprehensive Saints win.
Saints never really looked in any trouble but all credit to Warrington who raised their standards above recent outings, and ensured that the Red Vee knew that they were in match. A few too many handling errors and some poor discipline at times were the main differences between the sides as an entirely professional performance from the league leaders ensured that they ended the night at the top of the table. Terrific performances from Percival, Richardson and Roby who bossed the game.
Wolves:Ratchford (2G), Lineham, King T (T), Atkins, Brown M, Brown K, Roberts, Hill, Clark, Cooper, Murdoch-Masila, Hughes, Westwood. Subs: Philbin, Crosby, King G, Livett (T).
Saints: Barba, Swift, Makinson, Percival (3T), Grace, Lomax, Richardson (T, 5G), Amor, Roby (T), Thompson, Taia, Peyroux, McCarthy-Scarsbrook. Subs: Fages, Walmsley, Douglas, Lees.
Referee: James Child.
Half-Time: 6-8.
Full-Time: 12-30.
Attendance: .
