SAINTS boss Keiron Cunningham was pleased with the way his side fought to a one-point victory over form team Huddersfield.

He was quick to pay tribute to match winner Luke Walsh and new boy Adam Quinlan, who made a dream debut scoring three tries.

however, he said the team needed to work on its defence after allowing the Giants to score virtually every time they had possession on their line.

Walsh's late drop goal in a pulsating game snatched both points to lift Saints up to second on the Super League table, one point behind leaders Leeds.

Cunningham said: "I thought Luke Walsh had a decent game. He was great in attack and he led the team around well.

"He's never had a big injury and it's good for him to get into form. He brought the game home for us which is a good boost heading into the game next week.

"We missed Jon Wilkin though - and it's when the great players are out you notice their contribution more."

As for new boy Quinlan, scorer of a first half hat-trick, Cunningham said: "Adam certainly showed why we brought him here. He is a great support player and did a lot of stuff you didn't see too.

"He showed great instinct for those tries and will be good for us."

However, despite the win he did accept that there was still plenty to work on. 

Cunningham said: "We had plenty of opportunities to run away with the game comfortably, but you just can't gift sides of Huddersfield's calibre that many chances.

"A lot of stuff they scored we invited them down our end with dropped balls and penalties. We were disappointing.

"I'm not sure they deserved all their points but we need to look at our goal-line D. We have gone from being one of the best in the comp to being one of the worst in two weeks.

"We're glad of the win and glad we hung on in there. It was cat and mouse - we score, they score - and that was the flow of the game.

"We got the points and they will be valuable in the run in. We have plenty of work to do this week."