REPORT by Denis Whittle Saints 26 Paris St. Germain 14 MAYBE the mood was set by the pre-match silence observed for the death of the Princess of Wales, but the atmosphere remained positively sombre in this dull-as-ditchwater 'clash' at Knowsley Road on Sunday afternooon.

The one saving grace for Saints and their faithful following was the victory itself, which ensured third place in the Super League table, and with it enhanced financial reward plus at least one home tie in the Premiership play-off.

The fact that Saints have twice beaten a Paris side - masquerading as French but fielding 14 Australians - by 40 points this season was reflected in the second-lowest attendance of 5,652 for this final Super League match.

Certainly it was a very much a case of 'after the Lord Mayor's Show' following the epic win over Leeds on Bank Holiday Monday, with Saints showing little enthusiasm for the task in hand and being guilty of a chapter of basic errors.

And therein may lie a clue to Saints' below-par performance for there was little need to raise their game against a Paris squad who, although much improved under new Great Britain Andy Goodway, are still light years behind the Super League front-runners.

It all added up to 80 minutes of almost total boredom despite the issue being in the melting pot until the closing stages, with Saints and Paris often surrendering possession as early as the first tackle, while the rare occasion of the completion of six was greeted by derisory applause.

Not one of Saints' better days then, with the rigours of a long campaign inevitably taking its toll, but one always had the gut feeling that they had sufficient in reserve when Paris threatened, as a ratio of four tries to two by the Knowsley Road side might indicate in a victory that, despite its shortcomings, yielded its individual heroes. None more so that scrum-half Bobbie Goulding who, - casting aside disciplinary problems and relieved by the improvement in the health of his baby daughter - earned the McEwan Lager man-of-the-match with five goals from as many attempts and a hand in three Saints' tries, while the barnstorming Vila Matautia took the Royal Air Force accolade.

Academy and Alliance star Anthony Stewart, who was drafted in at the 11th hour for the injured Joey Hayes, could be well pleased with his full debut, while transfer-listed substitute Ian Pickavance turned in a stint of sheer graft.

A perfect pitch despite wet conditions greeted the teams and Paris were away to a 'flyer' via a Matt O'Connor penalty when Saints were caught offside, and their distress might have been greater but for try-saving tackles by Bobbie Goulding on Paul Evans and Danny Arnold on Deon Bird.

Full marks to gutsy PSG, but it took Saints fully 13 minutes to open their account, and this came when Goulding's tracer-bullet found Paul Newlove and he blasted through to send skipper Chris Joynt in.

Hard-working Paris skipper David O'Donnell then fell foul of referee Robert Connolly in holding down in the tackle, and Goulding exacted maximum toll with the penalty kick to ease Saints into an 8-2 lead with 25 minutes gone. There was little trace of entente cordiale when Matautia and Evans were at cross purposes following an earth-shattering tackle by the Samoan, but a cautionary word by Mr. Connolly happily had the desired effect,

But Paris, who had squandered as many chances as Saints, capitalised at last when Jason Martin, Pierre Chamorin and Phil Bergman conined to send Evans over with O'Connor's conversion meaning the sides were level at the break. Thoughts that Saints' hopes of third position were in jeopardy were quickly dispelled on the restart, when Karle Hammond and Goulding opened the way for Arnold to thread his way over, while PSG suffered another blow when Troy Bellamy was carried off with a neck injury.

And, with 60 minutes on the clock, Saints' took an apparent 20-8 stranglehold when Sean Long and Goulding sent Newlove in for another six-point, only for Paris to hit back when Joe Taylor dived under the posts for O'Connor to goal. Goulding then had a drop-goal disallowed because the ball struck Bird en-route and, much to the relief of the home crowd, Cunningham's sheer strength and determination supplied the finishing touch with four minutes to play.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.