Saints march on

ONE down - three to go - and after a showing like this you would not back against the Saints keeping the Super League trophy locked away in the Knowsley Road sideboard for a third successive year.

With star duo Paul Sculthorpe and Keiron Cunningham to the fore - Saints showed all their big match experience to grab the game by the scruff of the neck to kill off the Rhinos' challenge in the ten minute spell after the restart.

The opening quarter of the second half proved critical with two tries, a penalty, two sin-binnings and a punch-up changing the complexion of the game.

As Leeds' coach Daryl Powell said afterwards: "They had too much experience in big games today. They did the smart things, especially right at the start of the second half. They killed us off then. You take them lightly at your peril because they have players who have been there and done it."

After a tit-for-tat first half, it looked like it was going to go all the way down to the wire, with Leeds' diminutive but inspirational scrum half Rob Burrow proving a constant thorn in the Saints side.

Pint-sized Burrow - who according to the popular side choir is "only two foot tall" - opened the scoring after six minutes with a well taken try. And when loose forward Andy Hay went close to adding to that on 10 minutes it looked like Saints were going to continue their shaky form of recent weeks.

But Saints could count on their rock Cunningham, who forced his way over from acting half back for the first of his two identical tries to steady the home nerves.

And shortly after Tony Stewart had seen his try harshly disallowed for a forward pass, Sculthorpe, celebrating his 24th birthday, nudged Saints ahead when he dummied then forced his way over out wide.

Saints may be missing a well-documented cluster of stars, but as long as Cunningham and Sculthorpe carry on firing - backed up by a string of team-mates short on years but big on experience - they will be in there with a shout.

The dynamic Cunningham, wearing a new snazzy pair of silver boots, had a blinder and showed his quick thinking from a tap penalty to launch an overhead throw into the arms of winger Steve Hall for the first of his two tries.

Coach Ian Millward was full of praise for his charges. "It was a very brave performance and we have picked up a few more injuries, but I am really proud of the way they have conducted themselves tonight," he said.

He can be especially pleased with youngsters John Stankevitch, Tim Jonkers and Mark Edmondson who tackled like Trojans throughout. Stankevitch topped the tackle count with 32. The strong running Edmondson showed a 100 per cent improvement in his ball control and made some great breaks into the heart of the Leeds defence.

In the absence of his compatriot David Fairleigh, Peter Shiels had a powerful game, leading by example at prop.

There were a few worries for Millward - Mick Higham was back on the bench with an ice pack on his knee after 20 minutes, Paul Wellens took a knock in the 56th minute although he carried on and the freshly returned Stewart looked to twist awkwardly in the final minutes.

This was a morale booster for Saints - especially when you could see some of the cobwebs being blown off, particularly from big match players like skipper Chris Joynt and Tommy Martyn.

Martyn was desperately unlucky with a couple of first half 40/20s, but showed his class with a superb delayed pass to send Kevin Iro over for a second half try.

In between that Martyn caused controversy by using the 'foot of God', kicking a spare ball back onto the field of play to prompt the referee to halt a Leeds attack.

The fact that Wigan fans were queuing up on rugby league radio phone-ins to dub it the crime of the century is a form of flattery really - they know Martyn is a big game match winner and would love to have seen him nobbled through trial by television.

How they lined up Saints: Wellens; Hall, Iro, Hoppe, Stewart; Sculthorpe, Martyn; Matautia, Higham, Stankevitch, Joynt, Shiels, Cunningham. Subs: Edmondson, Jonkers, Kirkpatrick, Cruckshank. Leeds: Cummins; Walker, Carroll, Senior, Calderwood; Sinfield, Burrow; Fleary, Diskin, McDermott, Farrell, Mercer, Hay. Subs: Ward, St Hilaire, Wrench, Mathiou Attendance: 8,467 Referee: Stuart Cummins (Widnes)

Clockwatch

6 minutes: Anthony Farrell bursts up the flank feeding Keith Senior who sends Rob Burrow in for a well taken try. Burrow converts, 0-6. 14: Keiron Cunningham's quick pass sends Steve Hall sliding in at the corner flag, 4-6. 15: Tony Stewart try disallowed for a forward pass. 17: Sculthorpe try, 8-6. 21: Burrow penalty, 8-8. 23: Francis Cummins goes over in the corner, Burrow misses the goal, 8-12. 31: Cunningham bulldozes his way over from acting half back, Sculthorpe converts 14-12. 35: Sculthorpe try, 18-12. 38: Diskin try, Burrow goal, 18-18. 40: Saints awarded a penalty on the hooter, which Sculthorpe converts from 40 metres. 20-18. 42: Cunningham's second try from acting half back starts Saints second half blitz, Sculthorpe tags on the goal 26-18. 46: Vila Matautia and Gary Mercer sin-binned for their part in a punch-up. The incident was placed on report, with Saints awarded a penalty which Sculthorpe goals, 28-14. 49: A beautifully timed pass from Tommy Martyn sends Kevin Iro in at the corner, converted by Sculthorpe 34-18. 57: Mark Calderwood try, Burrow goal, 34-24. 71: Hall in for a try in the corner, 38-24. 78: Senior try, Burrow goal, 38-30.