St Helens produce superb comeback to stun Salford Red Devils

A young St Helens team came back from a 15-2 half-time deficit to claim a superb 18-15 win over Salford Red Devils.

Saints posted the first points of the game through a Mark Percival penalty, but Salford dominated the rest of the half – scoring 15 unanswered points in the process.

The Red Devils scored the first try of the game when Brodie Croft produced a moment of class, flicking on for Kallum Watkins who crashed over to give the hosts the lead.

They extended that lead on the 15-minute mark as Ryan Brierley latched onto a chip kick, showing great anticipation to read the play and race away for Salford’s second try.

Paul Rowley’s men added another three points in the reminder of the half through the boot of Marc Sneyd – first through a penalty and then a drop-goal, making it 15-2 at half-time.

But if the first-half belonged to Salford then the second belonged to St Helens, with Paul Wellens’ side coming out a different beast in the next 40 minutes.

Matty Lees got the Saints first and most crucial try of the game, a score which turned the tide as the big prop was first to react after the ball came loose in a tackle, picking up to touch down, a score that gave Saints confidence.

It was then a one-point game with 15 minutes to go as Jack Welsby looked like scoring firstly but was superbly denied by Sam Stone, with Tommy Makinson picking up to score on the next play.

The comeback was complete with 10 left on the clock as Welsby again showed his class, finding a gap for a tremendous solo score to give Saints a valuable victory.

Percival was wide with the conversion for his first miss of the afternoon, but it didn’t matter as Saints eventually won out 18-15 in front of over 6,000 fans at the AJ Bell Stadium.

It’s a win that keeps St Helens firmly in the top two race, with wins for the three teams above them this weekend making this two points even more crucial – Salford remain in the hunt for the play-offs but this fourth consecutive loss is another blow for Rowley’s side.