Cunningham steals it for Saints

IT'S early days yet, but if Grand Final Trophy holders Saints qualify for the play-offs this season they will surely never have a closer shave than at The Valley on Saturday night.

And for a great escape act of Houdini proportions out-of-sorts Saints can thank incredible hooker Keiron Cunningham for a late, late try double which gave them an unlikely and arguably undeserved victory.

The second -- and the vital conversion by Sean Long -- came in the 77th minute and meant Saints led for the first time against a Broncos side that hitherto held most of the aces, particularly in the opening half.

Streets ahead of Saints in support work and defensive commitment, the London outfit scored three cracking tries in this period but none were converted, and they were later to rue leaving regular goalkicker Brett Warton on the substitutes bench.

Fully 38 minutes had ticked by before Saints opened their account but, on balance, the game then became one of contrasting halves as the world champions at last started to get their act together, which says something for their character.

Inevitably, given 11th-hour heroics, Cunningham was named man-of-the-match, while Kevin Iro, Paul Newlove, Sean Long, David Fairleigh and Tim Jonkers were also worthy of mention in a squad that left one wondering if they had one eye on Saturday's semi-final.

Paul Sculthorpe emerged without further mishap following a six-week lay-off with a broken jaw, while the other selection talking point was the absence of Anthony Sullivan, who has totalled 13 tries against the Broncos in recent seasons.

Still on a statistical note, Saints have now recorded seven successive wins over London in the capital, while a Broncos squad containing no fewer than 12 Australians -- for which they hold a dispensation -- are still looking for their first win of the season.

Swamp rather than valley would have been a more apt description of a pitch which placed the game in doubt until 10am, and it was Saints who found their feet first with a magnificent break by Fairleigh, but Richard Barnett was sure in the tackle. Long-striding Kiwi Barnett was to play a major role in Broncos' early ascendancy, and it was his searing break that set up position for their first try, which came when Denis Moran's chip on the sixth tackle was seized upon by Tony Martin.

Worse was for follow for the shell-shocked visitors when Barnett broke majestically over 70 yards to feed Martin, who again powered over in the corner with 15 minutes on the clock, and at this point Saints were gazing heaven-ward for inspiration.

It looked as though their prayers were answered when Newlove touched down, but Tommy Martyn's knock-on meant Saints remained pointless, before Broncos went into a 12-0 lead when Wiganer Andy Johnson dummied Chris Joynt to race in from 40 yards.

Desperate for a try, Saints spurned a kickable penalty when Cunningham was fouled by Tony Mestrov and they were thrown a lifeline at a crucial psychological moment just before half-time when Sean Hoppe crossed London's line after Newlove made the running.

Trailing 12-4, Saints made further inroads when Martyn's shrewd pass allowed Joynt to put the finishing touch to a brilliant seven-man raid, and they could have at least been on level teams if Sculthorpe had held Long's pass.

London took what appeared a stranglehold when Jason Hetherington dived over from dummy half for Warton to land the first goal of the game and, with 70 minutes gone, Saints mounted a final all-out offensive in what was now a gripping war of attrition.

The fuse was lit by Iro who was stopped just short of the line, before Martyn's 40-20 touchfinder set up position for a Long bomb which was spilled by Nigel Roy, with Cunningham then emulating Hetherington's play-the-ball touchdown.

Longy tacked on the goal to guarantee a cliff-hanging finish, with the Keiron-Sean double act ensuring the huge Saints 'barmy army' a happy if long journey home, while a gallant Broncos team who deserved a better fate could only stand and stare.

Both coaches were equally magnanimous, with Ian Millward declaring that the best team lost, while London's Tony Rae said he was proud of the effort his boys put in and believed Broncos would move on from there.

From a Saints angle the victory underlined the widely-held belief that they never know when they are beaten -- a pre-requisite for a champion side -- with the overall view being that a win is a win no matter what the circumstances.

London Broncos: Barnett; Roy, Martin, Fleming, Golden; Dymock, Moran; Dooley, Hetherington, Cram, Millard, Retchless, Johnson. Substitutes: Toshack for Millard (25), Mestrov for Cram (29), Millard for Hethrington (35bb rev 46), Cram for Mestrov (51), Warton for Golden (53bb rev 60), Sozi for Dooley (58), Warton for Moran (60).

Saints: Wellens; Hoppe, Iro, Newlove, Hall; Martyn, Long; Nickle, Cunningham, Fairleigh, Joynt, Shiels, Sculthorpe. Substitutes: Jonkers for Nickle (22), McDonald for Fairleigh (35), Fairleigh for McDonald (58), Stankevitch for Joynt (63), Stewart for Shiels (79).

Referee: Ian Smith (Oldham). Attendance: 3,736.