SAINTS' Wembley hopes have been dashed for another year after they suffered a 24-14 defeat against Leeds Rhinos at Warrington.

They paid a heavy price for some poor ball control in the Leeds half and occasional defensive lapses.

Saints also seemed incapabable of stopping a red-hot Leeds from offloading in the tackle, which invariably caused them problems further down the track.

Leeds were at their best in the opening quarter, with coach Brian McDermott calling it "the best I've seen us play".

But for all that they hung in and made a real game of it in the second half.

After an awful start for the men in the red vee, which saw the Rhinos take a 12-0 lead after tries from Zak Hardaker and Joel Moon, Saints got a toe-hold just before the break.

It came after Saints put in some rib-rattling defence and from that late impetus Alex Walmsley drove through, followed by quicksilver Adam Quinlan, resulting in centre Mark Percival sneaking in at the corner.

Half time probably came at the wrong time for Saints, and alas Leeds scored first after the restart when Jamie Peacock powered over to make it 18-4.

That came just after Saints had seen Atelea Vea hobble off with a leg injury. 

The big screen in the stadium showed the disconsolate Tongan - who has only recently returned from a four month absence with a shoulder injury - with his head bowed in the dressing room.

Saints also lost Joe Greenwood with a shoulder injury, sustained early in th econtest after he had tried to put a big shot on Jamie Peacock.

Saints never gave up and Andre Savelio crossed from close range, getting the thumbs up off the video ref, after James Roby's kick had taken a deflection.

Savelio had a hand in the next one, with his flat pass to Percival making it 18-14 after the classy Widnesian centre had squeezed in at the corner.

But after Saints had been forced to drop out, after Quinlan was tackled behind the line after a high Sinfield kick, Leeds' Kallum Watkins wrapped it up with a try on the right edge to push the game out of reach.

Saints: 37. Adam Quinlan; 22. Matty Dawson, 17. Mark Percival, 3. Jordan Turner, 5. Adam Swift; 6. Travis Burns, 7. Luke Walsh; 10. Kyle Amor, 9. James Roby, 14. Alex Walmsley, 13. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, 21. Joe Greenwood, 15. Mark Flanagan. Subs: 4. Josh Jones, 8. Mose Masoe, 11. Atelea Vea, 25. Andre Savelio.

Leeds: Hardaker; Briscoe, Watkins, Moon, Hall; Sinfield, McGuire; Cuthberstson, Aiton, Peacock, Delaney, Ablett, Jone-Buchanan. Subs: Burrow, Leuluai, Keinhorst, Garbutt/