ANALYSIS: Saints maintain hold over old rivals in cup classic

12:00pm Wednesday 14th May 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

CLASHES between Saints and Warrington have become known for producing thrillers, but in terms of sheer excitement Saturday's Challenge Cup tie soared to a new level.

An exhiliarating, free-scoring affair in which the lead swung back and forth repeatedly it had both coaches afterwards saluting a classic exhibition of attacking skills.

It also witnessed one of the famous tournament's great tries, with Kevin Penny's length-of-the field touchdown for the Wolves a gem that will live long in the memory.

However, the open contest exposed the defensive frailties at the heart of Warrington's failure to hold on to a lead against Saints; while the vulnerability that has been a worrying feature of the home side's season was also evident.

And for all the attacking brilliance on show, it was the visitors' errors that cost them the chance of breaking a long losing sequence against Saints, with Penny's mistake late in the second half gifting a try to Paul Clough that allowed the cup holders to take a stranglehold for the first time.

Like the two previous fixtures between the sides this season, the Wolves held the lead on numerous occasions, but every time they have Saints snared in a corner Daniel Anderson's side either manoeuvre an opening or have an escape route gifted to them.

Warrington coach Paul Cullen said afterwards he didn't want to focus on the record against Saints, choosing instead to reflect on the considerable efforts of his players, their misfortune with injuries and decisions that he believed went against them.

But despite the heroics his side produced in defeat and their contributions to these thrilling tussles, until they get the Saints monkey off their backs, there will be those who will continue to suggest that the Knowsley Roaders have a psychological hold over their neighbours.

Saints were close to full strength on Saturday, but it was Warrington - overcoming the late withdrawal of centre Martin Gleeson through illness - who made the stronger start.

In Adrian Morley, they had the outstanding forward in the early exchanges, and the Great Britain prop's strong charges were rewarded when, after taking a reverse pass from Michael Monaghan, he out-muscled two Saints tacklers to touch down near the posts.

Saints were on the back foot and were forced to defend their line tenaciously to prevent a further breach before Chris Hicks, who had kicked the earlier conversion, struck a straightforward penalty to build an eight-point lead.

Attacking-wise, Saints' chances had been limited in the first quarter, but as soon as they began to give the ball width the cracks on the fringe of the opposition's defence were apparent.

First, centre Willie Talau skipped around a feeble attempted tackle by Lee Briers to score down the Wolves right, before a Wellens pass sent Chris Flannery racing through a gap to the try-line.

The malfunctioning Wolves line struggled to get to grips with Saints' dummy runners when the ball was spread wide and, with Long in fine kicking form Saints, had a four-point lead.

Saints' defence was also suspect when they leaked the next try to Hicks, whose touchline conversion meant the lead changed hands again. It was exquisite skill from centre Paul Johnson to draw in the three defenders on the blind side before squeezing a reverse pass out to the try scorer. But, given that the Great Britain international had taken the ball from acting half and was outnumbered, Francis Meli was guilty of being drawn in too easily Anderson suggested afterwards that players had struggled in the heat and perhaps tiring defenders contributed to the space on the flanks. Meli certainly had plenty of room when he charged over for the next try, brushing aside the challenges of Chris Riley and Briers, after Saints worked an overlap.

Targeting the wings was a theme that continued in the second half, with Johnson again sucking in Meli before slipping a pass that sent Hicks to the tryline. It was majestic skill from the centre, though there were suspicions the pass was forward.

Saints' next try was equally controversial. Leon Pryce's long floated pass caught Penny out of position and gave Gardner room to cross at the right corner. Once again though there were question marks over whether the final pass was forward.

It was breathless attacking action and with Saints leading by four, Warrington, and Penny, produced the moment of the match.

Monaghan swooped on Long's chip kick to the in-goal and sent a sharp pass to his compatriot Hicks. After gliding away from danger Hicks linked with speedster Penny, who from about 90 metres firstly turned Long inside out before blistering pace took him to the tryline ahead of the chasing Fa'asavalu, Gardner and Meli.

Hicks added a fine conversion from wide out to give Warrington a two-point lead and their followers must have started to believe that Cullen's men could finally break Saints' spell over them.

At this stage the home side looked decidedly panicky but their line held firm when the visitors opted to run the ball from in front of the posts instead of taking the easy two on offer - a decision that was to rebound on them in decisive fashion shortly afterwards when Saints hit back with a counter blitz of three converted tries in five minutes.

Firstly, Pryce showed he is developing into a shrewd operator at six as he deceived a stretched Wolves offence by dropping Talau off on the inside with a try-creating pass.

Penny then suffered his moment of heartbreak as he spilled the ball into the arms of a grateful Matt Gidley whose pass sent Paul Clough diving in.

Saints are at their most dangerous when they get on such an attacking roll and Lee Gilmour's solo try - a weaving run to the line after scooping up a bobbling ball - was the final act of the devastating 18-point spell that ultimately secured passage to the next round.

To their credit, Wolves kept battling to the end and they were rewarded with late tries by Ben Westwood and Simon Grix to set up a frantic finale, albeit one that ended with a familiar result.

---

Result: Saints 40 Warrington 34 Saints: Paul Wellens; Ade Gardner, Matt Gidley, Willie Talau, Francis Meli; Leon Pryce, Sean Long; Jason Cayless, Keiron Cunningham, James Graham, Lee Gilmour, Chris Flannery, Jon Wilkin. Subs (all used): James Roby, Bryn Hargreaves, Paul Clough, Maurie Fa'asavalu.

Tries: Talau (2), Flannery, Meli, Gardner, Clough, Gilmour.

Goals: Long (6) Warrington: Stuart Reardon; Chris Hicks, Paul Johnson, Matt King, Kevin Penny; Lee Briers, Michael Monaghan; Adrian Morley, Mark Gleeson, Paul Rauhihi, Louis Anderson, Ben Westwood, Vinnie Anderson. Subs (all used): Chris Riley, Simon Grix, Andy Bracek, Ben Harrison.

Tries: Morley, Hicks (2), Penny, Westwood, Grix.

Goals: Hicks (5)