It’s not often that a clash between Warrington Wolves and St
Helens is referred to as a ‘mid table battle’ but om round nine of Super league
XXX, that is exactly what it was as fifth played ninth in a Thursday night
encounter.

Warrington were slight favourites on the coupon with a two-point
handicap, indicating that even the bookies were struggling to decide which way
it would go, and who would emerge with the crucial two points at the end of the
night.

A win for the home side would lift them into seventh spot,
while a win would put Saints into third, and a win by thirty-seven or more
would see them into second, at least overnight.

Warrington had emerged victorious in the previous two
meetings in 2025, by 20-12 in the Challenge Cup quarter final and by 14-12 in
the earlier Super League encounter and were looking for three on the bounce.

An evenly matched opening thirteen minutes stalemate was
broken after a Saints knock on, the ball was moved left from the back of the
scrum and quickly into the hands of Toby King to run the angle and go through a
gap to score. Marc Sneyd pushed his conversion attempt across the face of the posts.

A Sneyd 40-20 after twenty minutes and on the second play
from the restart the ball was moved wide left with Matty Ashton diving over in
the corner to double the lead. This time Sneyd smashed his touchline conversion
through the middle of the uprights for a 10-0 lead. A double whammy for St
Helens.

Saints responded immediately. The kick-off was allowed to
bounce into touch and with Saints having the ball close to the Wolves line,
Mark Percival found Jon Bennison to go in by the right corner flag. George Whitby
couldn’t find the target with the conversion attempt.

It was turning into open try scoring season when three
minutes later Ashton went in for his second after a wayward Warrington pass was
picked up by King who found his winger in space to sprint in. Sneyd was again
on the mark for 16-4.

The fourth try in eleven minutes went Saints way, Mark Percival
showing the dummy before cutting through a gap to score on the angle from ten
metres out. Whitby was again wide with the conversion, Saints still eight
points adrift.

On thirty-six the Wolves knocked on in front of their own
sticks. On the fourth tackle Percival span out of a tackle and pushed over the
line backwards forcing the ball down under a heap of Warrington players. The referee
indicated a Try as he called for the video referee’s assistance who couldn’t
see anything to overrule the referee’s decision, third try to Saints. As Sneyd
left the field for a head injury assessment, Whitby kicked his first goal of
the game for 14-16, nothing between the sides at the interval.

The half time news was that Sneyd failed his assessment, and
the Wolves would be without their key playmaker in the second half.

Four minutes after the restart, Ashton completed his
hat-trick as he took flight down the left wing and grounded one-handed in the corner.
Josh Thewlis had the kicking duties but was wide with his attempt.

On fifty-seven Percival chased a cruelly bouncing grubber
into the Wolves goal area to ground. The referee awarded a Try on the field but
refereed it to the video referee who spotted a foot dead in goal at the time of
grounding.

A Josh Thewlis penalty on the hour mark looked to have
extended the lead but the touch judges both waved it away. But a failed two
quickly turned into four points when Thewlis broke down the wing before
flinging the ball inside to Rodrick Tai, who tripped and stumbled but slid over
the line to score. Thewlis added the extras for a twelve-point lead.

Matt Dufty got in on the scoring act on seventy as he took a
pass twenty out, span out of a tackle and headed for the posts to outpace the
Saints defenders.  Thewlis added the
conversion for 32-14, the points were Warrington’s.

On seventy-two Bennison got his second of the game down the
right side off a touch pass from Percival.

Whitby was wide with the conversion,
Saints still needed three tries in just over six minutes and Warrington managed
to keep them out, finishing the game with a  disallowed try of their own.

It was a bit of a crazy game with two threadbare defences offering
plenty of opportunities and a lot more points being scored than you would
expect between two decent sides. The Wolves battled adversity as they lost
Sneyd and Ashton to Head impact assessments and exposed the frailties of Saints
to secure their third win of the season against Paul Wellens side. The Saints
fans wondering whether the ‘youngsters’ experiment, at the cost of experience
like Jonny Lomax, was the right strategy for their side. Warrington now snapping
at the heels of the top six, and level on points with St Helens.

Warrington Wolves: Dufty (T), Thewlis (G 2/4), Tai (T), King
(T), Ashton (3T), Walker, Sneyd (G 2/3), Yates, Powell, Vaughan, Russell,
Fitzgibbon, Currie. Subs: Philbin, Crowther, Musgrove, Harrison. 18^th
Man: Irwin (Used).

St Helens: Sailor, Bennison (2T), Sambou, Percival (2T),
Murphy, Welsby, Whitby (G 1/3), Walmsley, Clark, Lees, Sironen, Whitley,
Knowles.  Subs: Mbye, Paasi, Delaney, Stephens.
18^th Man: Lomax.

Half-Time: 16-14.

Full-Time: 32-18.

Score Progression: 4-0, 8-0, 10-0, 10-4, 14-4, 16-4, 16-8, 16-12,
16-14 : HT: 20-14, 24-14, 26-14, 30-14, 32-14, 32-18 :FT.

Lead Exchanges: Warrington.

Referee: Liam Moore.