SAINTS put themselves back in the mix of title contenders with arguably their best performance of the season to close the gap on fourth-place to one point.

A 41-16 win over Wakefield Trinity, one of the sides they must overtake in the next seven rounds, gave Saints their first victory in Yorkshire for 12 months and a massive boost ahead of the Super 8s.

A dominant forward pack, which saw Saints' rotating big men boss the middle, allowed young halves Theo Fages and Danny Richardson to call the shots.

The halves probed well; asked questions, spread the ball and used a varied kicking game to help Saints rack up a commanding lead at the break in a game that had been billed as a 'must win' before the competition splits.

And those pair will give coach Justin Holbrook quite a selection headache when Matty Smith returns to fitness and furthermore when Ben Barba's ban expires.

 A near perfect first half saw them lead 24-6 thanks to tries from Danny Richardson, James Roby, Tommy Makinson and Regan Grace.

All of them were products of a different string to the Saints attacking bow.

Richardson's opener was a cheeky scrum half's dummy and go, Roby's a product of a determined chase to a clever Fages kick, Makinson's a resourceful kick chase and Grace's a product of swift hands and a masterful piece of centre play from Mark Percival to engage the full back and allow the young Welshman to streak in at the corner.

All of it was smile on the face rugby, and no wonder the travelling fans were purring despite being lashed by the rain in the open enclosure.

Saints had a battle on at the start of the second half - Trinity, chasing their highest-placed finish since 1968 and seeking the extra home game that top four provides, must have had a rocket at the interval.

They were a lot more combative at the start of the second 40, but Saints kept chipping away and two Percival penalties bought them breathing space in an increasingly tetchy encounter.

Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook dashed over after a high kick to Makinson had been palmed down to Jonny Lomax before spreading it to the Londoner, who shot on to it like a steam train.

Zeb Taia was rewarded for a busy game with a try, with Richardson poking over a late drop goal with the last kick of the game.

Wakefield: Grix; Jones-Bishop, Lyne, Tupou, Caton-Brown; Williams, Finn; Walker, Wood, Huby, Hadley, Ashurst, Arona. Subs: Kirmond, Hasson, Fifita, England.

Saints: Lomax; Makinson, Morgan, Percival, Grace; Fages, Richardson; Douglas, Thompson, Taia, Peyroux, Wilkin. Subs: Walmsley, Amor, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Knowles.