Sheffield Eagles 16 Saints 21 SAINTS cast off-field problems aside to lay a Don Valley Stadium bogey that has persisted since1992.

Victory kept Saints in third place, after a game played in tropical temperatures on a pitch blighted by a pop concert and - given a huge athletics arena - viewed at long-distance and barely discernable Eagles' numbers with the inevitable lack of 'atmosphere.'

However, as the scoreline indicates, the Eagles were not grounded without a fight in a match where Saints shown little of their traditional flair, with two of their three touchdowns resulting from 'bombs,' while they remained try-less in the latter half for the first time this season. Four sin-binnings and an incident placed on report had as much to do with the suffocating heat as indiscipline, while the fact that Saints' lacked Apollo Perelini, Anthony Stewart and Kevin Iro, and Sheffield Dale Laughton, Mark Aston, Daio Powell, Jeff Hardy and Dave Watson obviously had its effect.

From a Saints angle one of the more uplifting factors of an otherwise scrappy 80 minutes was the all-round excellence of Tommy Martyn, and teenager Paul Wellens again demonstrated his versatility and maturity by playing centre and scoring a try, while Paul Sculthorpe and Sonny Nickle were the pick of the pack

Saints were six points up in as many minutes when Waisale Sovatabua spilled Martyn's 'bomb' for Anthony Sullivan to race over with Sean Long goaling, but the Eagles hit back via a penalty from Martin Pearson after Chris Smith had fouled the home marksman in a tackle.

Martyn hoisted another towering up-and-under with Matt Crowther this time guilty of ball spillage, and the ever-alert Wellens nipped in to score for Long to add the conversion, and when Martyn danced his way over and Long kicked a penalty on being held down by Sovatabua Saints led 18-2 with 25 minutes gone.

Sheffield showed their steel, however, when Gareth Stephens shot through to touch down for Pearson to convert, and he then added a further two points when Saints were penalised for interference, and the visitors' 18-10 half-time lead might have been reduced even further but for Martyn ankle-tapping Darren Turner.

Nickle and Turner were involved in a breach of the peace soon after the restart and were dealt the yellow card with the incident placed on report. And although Pearson missed the resulting penalty, his replacement Chris Thorman was on target when Chris Joynt headed for the 'bin' after holding down Sovatabua.

Sculthorpe then saved Saints' bacon with a magnificent tackle as Dale Cadoza headed for the posts which would have levvled matters and after Nickle had been stopped on the line, Martyn gave backs-to-the-wall Saints welcome breathing space with a snap drop goal with 65 minutes on the clock.

Young Gareth Price came on for his second spell as substitute following his debut against London last week and, although in the thick of the action for just eight minutes, did enough to confirm that here is another Saints' youngster with a bright future.

Long's fourth goal after Eagles' were caught offside meant Saints were home-and-dry, but Sheffield thought otherwise as substitute Karl Lovell crashed over by the corner flag, and the usual magnificent Saints' support - who gave Ellery Hanley a hero's welcome - might have had a sorry tale to tell if time had not run out.

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