SAINTS boss Keiron Cunningham described Saints Magic weekend win over Warrington as a "game of two halves" after seeing his team rally from a 16-8 half time deficit to win 20-16.

The result, against top four rivals Wolves, was Saints' first Magic success since their 2010 thumping of Hull KR.

A draw and three heavy defeats have made this particular fixture more misery than magic and at times today it appeared that Saints were going to be dealt another dose of medicine.

But once they steadied the ship, began to complete their sets and apply pressure, the game began to turn.

Cunningham said: "I thought we were good and the second half outstanding.

"It was certainly a game of two halves. We started with vigour and plenty of will, but we dropped away after 10 minutes and tried our best to lose the game.

"We couldn't complete a set and the first one we did, Louie scored. There's a moral in that tale.

"We had a chat at half time and they came out fighting. We knew if we completed our sets then we would get opportunities.

"We gave some silly penalties away and right at the end when Louie was pinged I thought it was in the stars we'd lose the game.

"But we showed real spirit and resilience to defend the game. That has happened two weeks in a row now.

"We backed our defence and it sealed the victory for us."

Saints' defence was awesome in the closing stages as they clung to a four-point lead, repelling wave after wave of Wolves attacks as they somehow engineered repeat sets.

That spirit to defend the line was epitomised by wing Tommy Makinson flying out of the line to smash Daryl Clark forcing the Man of Steel to cough the ball up.

Cunningham said: "That was great, wasn't it.

"Tommy was one of the best players on the field for us and great on both sides of the ball.

"He is defensively turning into a complete player as are all our outside backs. Jamahl Lolesi works with these kids and they are coming a long way which is good to see."

Having ended a couple of hoodoos already this year, Cunningham was delighted to put another one of those problem fixtures to one side.

"You can't fabricate that spirit, it happens over time.

"They fought to defend their line and were proud of what they did. It was good to get that monkey off our back, now we have to learn from that first half," he said.