Saints' pace and power outguns Cullen's troops: Warrington Wolves 10 St Helens 30 (From Warrington Guardian)

Saints' pace and power outguns Cullen's troops: Warrington Wolves 10 St Helens 30

THE importance of 'kick and chase' hit home to Warrington Wolves players again this week.

A poor kicking game was to blame for the previous defeat against Super League leaders Leeds Rhinos but there was a vast improvement from the boot of half back partners Nathan Wood and Chris Bridge on Friday.

However, the outcome of the 'derby' battle boiled down to one chase of a kick that was not as good as the others - plus Saints' dazzling ability to make Wolves pay.

Wolves' right-sided defence 'missed the jump' on the 61st-minute deep hoof that led to Saints' breathtaking try breaking Wolves' comeback hopes and extending the visitors' unbeaten league run to 10 matches.

Saints' Cronulla-bound speed king Darren Albert spotted the space after collecting Wood's kick 10 metres from his own line.

He ran across five chasers to set Paul Wellens free. Willie Talau continued the counter attack and when he sent away Ade Gardner the winger had enough speed to skip Martin Gleeson's diving tackle and score.

Saints were 18-0 ahead at the break but two Wolves tries at the start of the second half, even after the blow of losing Danny Lima and Graham Appo to injuries, had their opponents rocking until Gardner's effort left Warrington with too much to do.

Overall, Saints were faster, stronger in defence and more penetrative in attack than Wolves.

In the first half Wolves were rattled by the power of bulldozing props Paul Anderson and Nick Fozzard, plus the pace of Saints' play-the-balls.

But Paul Cullen's men conceded 10 of the 18 points while down to 12 men, with Jon Clarke being in the sin bin after a try-saving tackle on Jon Wilkin was adjudged by referee Ian Smith to have gone on too long.

That was a correct call but lacking in consistency as Smith had not dished out any similar punishment for Saints' persistent offending on their own line as they survived heavy pressure thrown their way.

The fact that Wolves could not make that pressure count was also costly and they missed their injured captain Lee Briers by not having sufficient know-how to unlock a determined defence.

Improved support play would have helped Wolves' cause too.

New Zealand winger Henry Fa'afili and Australian full back Brent Grose created breaks but because none of their colleagues were at their side the players had to go it alone and Saints' defence held out.

Click here for exclusive photos of the Wolves v St Helens match.

Match facts

Engage Super League X, Round 23, August 5, 2005

Warrington Wolves 10

St Helens 30

Wolves: Brent Grose; Henry Fa'afili, Martin Gleeson, Toa Kohe-Love, Graham Appo; Chris Bridge, Nathan Wood; Chris Leikvoll, Jon Clarke, Mark Hilton, Logan Swann, Mike Wainwright, Ben Westwood. Subs used: Mark Gleeson, Paul Noone, Paul Wood, Danny Lima.

Saints: Paul Wellens; Darren Albert, Jamie Lyon, Willie Talau, Ade Gardner; Jason Hooper, Sean Long; Nick Fozzard, Keiron Cunningham, Paul Anderson, Mike Bennett, Jon Wilkin, Paul Sculthorpe. Subs used: James Roby, James Graham, Maurie Fa'asavalu, Mark Edmondson.

Referee: Ian Smith

Scoring: Leikvoll's knock on in an attacking position plus a penalty for offside lead to Long putting Bennett over, 5mins, Sculthorpe goals, 0-6; Wolves' markers not square at play-the-ball 10m from own try line and Sculthorpe lands penalty, 10mins, 0-8; Clarke is sin-binned and soon after Cunningham's searching pass allows Graham to crash over, 30mins, Sculthorpe converts, 0-14; Albert sucks in defenders to set Lyon away and good support by Wellens hands Long a try, 36mins, 0-18; faster Wolves play-the-balls create space for Swann's wonder pass that sends Martin Gleeson over, 48mins, Bridge hits the mark, 6-18; smart handling from Leikvoll and Kohe-Love squeezes emergency winger Paul Noone over in the corner, 55mins, 10-18; Albert retrieves Nathan Wood's kick and sets the platform for a scintillating try finished off by Gardner, 61mins, Sculthorpe finds the target, 10-24; Bridge loses the ball in a tackle and Saints capitalise with Fa'asavalu and Wilkin sending Wellens clear, 72mins, Sculthorpe adds extras, 10-30.

Pens: Wolves 8 Saints 8

Scrums: Wolves 7 Saints 2

Attendance: 12,762

Warrington Guardian top men: Ben Westwood 3pts, Brent Grose 2pts, Paul Wood 1pt.

Interesting note: Wolves have yet to beat St Helens during Paul Cullen's reign as head coach.

Story so far

Apps T G Dg Pts TM

1 Brent Grose 24 9 0 0 36 9

2 Henry Fa'afili 24 20 0 0 80 6

3 Martin Gleeson 23 13 0 0 52 7

4 Toa Kohe-Love 21 6 0 0 24 1

5 Dean Gaskell 15+1 1 0 0 4 0

6 Lee Briers 18 5 28 2 78 12

7 Nathan Wood 18 13 0 0 52 8

8 Chris Leikvoll 19+1 0 0 0 0 4

9 Jon Clarke 24 10 0 0 40 16

10 Mark Hilton 22 1 0 0 4 6

11 Logan Swann 19 6 0 0 24 8

12 Mike Wainwright 21 3 0 0 12 8

13 Paul Noone 6+9 2 2 0 12 0

14 Mark Gleeson 9+13 0 0 0 0 17

15 Ben Westwood 22+2 12 0 0 48 16

16 Paul Wood 3+16 1 0 0 4 2

17 Danny Lima 2+22 4 0 0 16 7

18 Graham Appo 9+9 5 8 0 36 2

19 Daryl Cardiss 0 0 0 0 0 0

20 Warren Stevens 0+7 0 0 0 0 0

21 Simon Grix 0 0 0 0 0 0

22 Steve Pickersgill 0+6 0 0 0 0 0

23 Andrew Bracek 0+5 0 0 0 0 0

25 Chris Bridge 13+3 6 45 1 115 15

26 Nicky Royle 0 0 0 0 0 0