St Helens fought off a late comeback to beat arch rivals Wigan Warriors 22-16 in a thrilling game at Langtree Park.

Wigan, without the mercurial Sam Tomkins, missed the opportunity to take the top spot in the Super League table as Saints battled back to move up to 23 points in seventh place.

A superb late try from Joe Greenwood secured the win for the home side after the lead changed hands on a number of occasions throughout the 80 minutes.

The Saints took an early lead thanks to a brace from Adam Swift, but Wigan’s wingers Pat Richards and Josh Charnley put tries of their own on the board to bring the Warriors within four points at the half time hooter.

Charnley scored his second of the game shortly after the restart to give Wigan the lead but Tom Makinson leveled the scores with the boot after Gareth O’Brien was forced off after a bad shoulder charge by Scott Taylor.

Wigan then took a 15-14 lead through a superb touchline drop goal by Richards but Turner edged the Saints ahead with a penalty after Blake Green was sin-binned.

Matty Smith kicked Wigan’s second drop goal of the night to bring Wigan level again but Joe Greenwood had the final say with a superb try after Makinson broke down the line with just two minutes remaining.

Both teams made early mistakes and Saints were the first to capitalise with a try through Swift. Goulding knocked on as he tried to make an interception and from the scrum the Saints went on the blindside. Francis Meli dragged in two defenders and offloaded to Swift on the wing who ran in to score.

Swift quickly bagged his second try of the night after Gil Dudson gave away a penalty for interference. Saints worked the ball to the left and Jonny Lomax darted through the line to play Swift in for a simple try. Referee James Child sent the decision to the video referee but Saints were cleared of an obstruction in back play. O’Brien kicked his second of the night to give the home side a 12-0 lead.

Richards pulled one back for Wigan after two quick penalties for the visitors. Puletua was first penalised for a forward pass and Ryan Hampshire won a penalty for obstruction. Wigan moved play to the left hand side and Liam Farrell played Richards in unmarked to score. The Australian failed to convert and Saints led by eight points.

Wigan sub Ben Flower gave away a bad penalty for pushing Paul Wellens off Logan Tomkins in the tackle, but the prop immediately redeemed himself by forcing a knock-on in a tackle on Clough.

Just as Saints looked ready to close the half out Greenwood knocked-on with his first touch of the ball after coming on from the bench. With the ensuing possession Wigan were brought back into the game by Charnley with his 26th try of the season. The winger looked to have been injured earlier in the set but leapt up to reach Smith’s cross field kick, beating Swift to the ball to drop down on the loose ball to score.

The home side almost took the first try of the second half after four minutes but for a superb try-saving tackle by Hampshire. Standing in for Sam Tomkins Hampshire managed to dislodge the ball in a tackle on Greenwood who broke through the Wigan defence just 20 metres from the line.

Hampshire then launched an attack breaking through the line thanks to a dummy run. After a stunning pass to Charnley on the wing the England international ran in to score his second try of the night. Richards kicked the conversion to put the Warriors ahead for the first time in the match.

The Warriors were lucky not to be reduced to 12 men after a shocking shoulder charge from Taylor. O’Brien ran across the line and made a pass outside before Taylor came in with a malicious tackle. Referee Child put the incident on report and Taylor was immediately withdrawn by Wigan coach Shaun Wane. Makinson kicked the penalty to bring the scores level.

Wigan immediately went ahead again through the boot of Richards, this time from a drop goal. The play broke down on the left hand side and Richards decided to go for one point just 10 metres inside the pitch from 40 metres out with a superb effort.

Makinson attempted another penalty after a late tackle from Dudson, but his effort was pushed just wide of the posts as the Saints still trailed by one point with 17 minutes to go.

Child gave Wigan a team warning after foul play from Dudson. Makinson missed again with the boot at the second attempt.

Blake Green was sin-binned after giving away a penalty for offside after Child’s warning, and Turner took it upon himself to take the penalty from 15 metres out. Turner slotted over the kick to give Saints a 16-15 lead.

Wigan were given a penalty after Hampshire was pressured under a high bomb, and the Warriors drove the ball up field giving Smith field position to slot over a drop goal to level the scores with five minutes to play.

A superb run by Makinson brought the Saints to within 20 metres of the line. The winger took a kick and ran through a huge gap in Wigan’s defence but was stopped by Hampshire. He managed to quickly play the ball and Greenwood made up for his earlier error to breeze through Wigan’s line to score next to the posts.

Wigan face London on Satutrday in the Challenge Cup semi-final while St Helens have a week off before travelling to the south of France to take on the Catalans Dragons.

St Helens: Lomax, Makinson, Turner, Meli, Swift; Wilkin, O’Brien; Puletua, Howarth, Laffranchi, Manu, Jones, McCarthy-Scarsbrook
Subs: Wellens, Clough, Greenwood, Walmsley
T: Swift 2, Greenwood
G: O’Brien 2/2 Makinson 1/3 Turner 2/2

Wigan: Hampshire, Charnley, Goulding, Gelling, Richards; Green, Smith; Mossop, McIlorum, Dudson, Tuson, Farrell, Burke
Subs: Flower, Taylor, L Tomkins, Crosby
T: Richards, Charnley 2
G: Richards 1/3
DG: Richards, Smith

Half Time: 12-8
Full Time: 22-16

Referee: James Child

RLFANS Man of the Match: Louis McCarthy-Scarsbrook