SAINTS boss Keiron Cunningham said the two-try performance of Jonny Lomax, back after 14-months out, “brought a tear to his eye”.

Cunningham was delighted by the way Lomax – and the home support – inspired a 38-34 win over champions Leeds.

Although not one for the defensive purists, there was plenty of good football - not least from Theo Fages, whose two second half tries were vital.

"It was quite an emotional night for me with Jonny and Percy (Mark Percival) and those boys coming back, especially Jonny," Cunningham said.

"I've been there with Jonny for a long period of time and we have a really close affiliation. Just to hear the Saints fans in full roar when Jonny goes over for that try, it brings a tear to your eye.

"It meant a lot to me and to the fans to see the kid in a Saints shirt again, seeing what it means to Jonny to get through it fine is immense.

"He's not played for 15 months and he just kept going. We did roll him in a few different positions to try and freshen him up but all credit to Jonny, he did a great job and had an influence on the game from the start to the finish."

The way they played, with four coming back and more to follow, filled Cunningham with hope looking forward.

"It is scary where he could take us as a team. We will take it week by week with him though as we will with all the players. Joe (Greenwood) and Til (Atelea Vea) did a solid job. We lost Matty Dawson at half time which meant Louie heading into the centres but I thought Morgan Knowles did a good job in the middle too.

"It wasn't the best defensive display but we will take the two points."

Cunningham singled out the crowd has having played a special role in the victory.

"The crowd were immense for us tonight," he said. "It was the style of game they enjoy; a bit free flowing and plenty of points and I thought they brought us home in crucial areas. Kyle Amor's try ... we had them pinned down in their area and he got off his line with the wind behind him from the fans and put Zak (Hardaker) in a bad spot.

"They were immense and it meant as much to us and it did to them to get the victory tonight "It was some game for sure. It was definitely one for the cameras and one for the fans ... and to be fair we could have quite easily come away with nothing. But you can't be critical when as a team you keep fighting and working hard. Ok, we didn't want to play defence and just play offense, but we were pretty good at it!”