WiganlTries:l

Ellery Hanley 2

StlHelenslTries:l

Paul Doherty

Paul Loughlin 1, David Tanner 1

Roy Haggerty 1

Summary:l

Wigan had hammered league leaders Widnes 28-2 at Central Park five days earlier, which had done a massive favour to St Helens who were in second place in the title race. So this was a huge game for our Knowsley Road neighbours and things looked ripe for them to win with both Andy Gregory and Shaun Edwards absent from the Wigan side. The unlikely half back pairing of Ged Byrne and Craig Rodgers played instead and then both combined to get Ellery Hanley over for a try with Joe Lydon converting for a 6-0 lead. A Paul Loughlin penalty reduced that to 6-2 by half time and Roy Haggerty kicked a drop goal to make it 6-3 soon after the break. Immediately though Wigan found a second try when Hanley again scored, this time from a Lydon kick. That made it 10-3 with the conversion being missed this time. Saints gave themselves huge hope though when Paul Doherty scored in the 61st Minute and Dave Tanner's conversion making it 10-9. However, they didn't score again and with Widnes winning away at Warrington, Saints title hopes had suffered a huge blow.

St Helens 2 Wigan 6

21,813

Referee:l