DESPITE playing for more than an hour with 12 men, Warrington Wolves pulled off a victory for the ages at St Helens.
With The Wire 12-0 in front after a superb start, the seemingly pivotal moment came in the 20th minute when James Harrison was shown the red card after his shoulder made contact with the head of Saints prop Noah Stephens.
Before then, they had flown out of the traps - Matty Ashton opened the scoring by finishing off a flowing move to the left before Matt Dufty burst through the line to put them in command.
Having resisted Saints with 12, Warrington then had a 10-minute spell with 11 men after half time when Matty Nicholson was sin-binned for a professional foul just after Agnatius Paasi's powerful try had halved their lead.
Just after Nicholson's return, Sam Royle touched down to bring Saints to the brink of overhauling the deficit, but Mark Percival crucially missed the conversion and Wire's lead survived.
Then came the late burst that won the game - Adam Holroyd crashed over on the left before Nicholson won the race to touch down George Williams' kick and spark wild celebrations in the away end.
(Image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
St Helens 10 Warrington Wolves 24 - post-match reaction
> THE FINAL WORD: More evidence of a team moulded in the image of its leader
> Can you spot the famous fan among the jubilant Wire faithful at St Helens?
> STAT ATTACK: Wire share the load as George Williams steps up
> THE MORNING AFTER: A night to remember, now onto the next frontier...
> Everything Sam Burgess had to say after 12-man Warrington Wolves' victory
> Wire captain set for lengthy spell on the sidelines - full injury report
> WIRE SOCIAL: 'Best performance of the season so far'
> Re-live the action from the Totally Wicked Stadium as it happened
Match facts:
Super League, Round 18
Friday, July 19, 2024
St Helens...10 Warrington Wolves...24
Saints: Harry Robertson; Tee Ritson, Jonny Vaughan, Mark Percival, Waqa Blake; Jack Welsby, Jonny Lomax; Agnatius Paasi, Daryl Clark, Matty Lees, Curtis Sironen, James Bell, Moses Mbye. Subs: Lewis Dodd, Sam Royle, Noah Stephens. Not used: Jon Bennison. 18th man: Owen Dagnall
Wolves: Matt Dufty; Arron Lindop, Rodrick Tai, Stefan Ratchford, Matty Ashton; George Williams, Josh Drinkwater; James Harrison, Sam Powell, Paul Vaughan, Matty Nicholson, Adam Holroyd, Ben Currie. Subs: Zane Musgrove, Luke Yates, Danny Walker, Tom Whitehead. 18th man: Max Wood
Scoring: Ratchford penalty, 5mins, 0-2; Ashton try, 10mins, 0-6; Dufty try, 15mins, Ratchford goal, 0-12; Paasi try, 45mins, Percival goal, 6-12; Royle try, 67mins, 10-12; Holroyd try, 73mins, 10-16; Nicholson try, 75mins, Drinkwater goal, 10-22; Drinkwater penalty, 80mins, 10-24
Penalties: Saints 5 Wolves 7
Red card: Harrison (20mins, high tackle)
Sin bin: Nicholson (54mins, professional foul)
Referee: Chris Kendall
Attendance: 13,135
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