DANNY Richardson took a leaf out of the ‘Sean Long manual for breaking Warrington hearts’ by kicking an after hours 55-metre penalty goal to snatch 14-12 victory.

It was a nerves of steel job in a game that Saints twice had to fight to get back into, but then very nearly lost themselves in the closing stages.

Having battled back from 8-0 and 12-6 deficits, Saints drew level in the last quarter after a try from the magnificent Jonny Lomax.

At 12-apiece Tyrone Roberts and Stef Ratchford butchered three drop goal attempts between them for the Wolves, with Richardson just missing out on one himself and scuffing another.

But in a pulsating encounter, Saints were handed a last chance to settle it with a Ben Murdoch-Masila high shot on Luke Thompson as the hooter sounded

A calm as you like, Richardson put his hand up to have a crack at it – and not for the first time when it mattered the ball sailed straight and true through the uprights and the young number seven raced to take his plaudits from an ecstatic West Stand.

It had been a tough old game and any notion that either side would be going easy on account of next week’s semi-final was soon dispelled.

Warrington’s big men Chris Hill, Ben Westwood and Mike Cooper giving Saints’ middles a torrid time in the first 30 and securing good field position, and multiple offloads, for dummy half Daryl Clark and the halves to work off.

They built much pressure in that opening quarter, but all they had to show for it was a 12th minute Clark try after a questionable play the ball had been allowed to stand.

Roberts tagged a conversion and a 26th minute penalty to take an 8-0 lead into the break.

Signs of a Saints recovery had been taking shape late in the first half, but that exploded into fruition within a minute of the restart.

It was a belter of a try, with Saints giving the ball some width and the outstanding Lomax slipping Roberts’ tackle to pierce the line before delivering a killer pass for Mark Percival to weave through. The Wire cover hemmed him in, only for Ben Barba to appear in support to dash over for a try.

Richardson goaled, but Warrington again enjoyed a period of pressure. Twice they opted to convert penalties when they had Saints on the rack, and in hindsight they may rue that decision.

But with Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook bringing some energy to Saints’ carries in his two stints, and Theo Fages adding a bit of effervescence, the league leaders built some pressure of their own.

And on 64 minutes Fages and Zeb Taia set up a try for Lomax to dart through. It was not the easiest of goals, but Richardson slotted it.

With everything to play for, every loose ball was dropped on and scrapped for. There were errors on both sides, but it always seemed like Saints were just not getting the bounce of the ball or the 50/50 calls.

One such instance came seven minutes from time when a Wolves attack on the left ended with Tom Lineham losing the ball then squaring up to Barba, with a melee ensuing.

Wire were awarded the scrum, deeming that Barba had played at it, a decision that could have been costly but for an immediate error.

After Richardson had slightly pulled his one pointer wide, Wire had one last stab and in their seven tackles worked their way to the Saints posts only for Ratchford’s effort to flap badly.

That sigh of relief and contentment with a draw from Saints suddenly changed into a different emotion when

With 13,000 hearts beating out of their chests like a malfunctioning clock, Richardson showed a calmness and maturity to go with his execution to convert and spark wild jubilation.

The game was won, the run stretches to 14games but after this examination the two sides are sure to meet again when even more is at stake.

Saints: 23. Ben Barba; 2. Tommy Makinson, 3. Ryan Morgan, 4. Mark Percival, 19. Regan Grace; 1. Jonny Lomax, 18. Danny Richardson; 10. Kyle Amor, 9. James Roby, 16. Luke Thompson, 17. Dom Peyroux, 11. Zeb Taia, 12. Jon Wilkin.

Subs: 6. Theo Fages, 13. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, 14. Luke Douglas, 15. Morgan Knowles.

Wolves: 1. Stefan Ratchford; 2. Tom Lineham, 3. Bryson Goodwin, 18. Toby King, 27. Josh Charnley; 6. Kevin Brown, 7. Tyrone Roberts; 8. Chris Hill, 9. Daryl Clark, 10. Mike Cooper, 20. Harvey Livett, 12. Jack Hughes, 34. Ben Westwood.

Subs: 13. Ben Murdoch-Masila, 15. Declan Patton, 16. Sitaleki Akauola, 17. Joe Philbin.