Saints comeback stuns Wigan

St Helens produced a superb second-half comeback to claim a dramatic 16-16 draw against local rivals Wigan Warriors in Saturday's final match of the Millennium Magic weekend.

Defending champions Wigan looked to be cruising to victory as they opened a 16-0 lead ten minutes into the second period with their third try of the match.

George Carmont got that score to add to first half efforts from debutant Ryan Hoffman and Harrison Hansen.

Despite plenty of pressure Saints had been unable to penetrate a well-drilled Wigan defence, that was until 15 minutes from time when Jon Wilkin touched down.

The score marked a complete momentum shift and further tries from Tony Puletua and Francis Meli got Saints back on terms.

A breathless finish saw Sam Tomkins and Kyle Eastmond go close to winning it with drop-goal attempts, but in the end the great rivals had to settle for a share of the spoils as the game finished in the first-ever draw in five Magic weekends.

Saints made the better start and twice found themselves in front of Wigan's posts but were unable to turn their pressure into points.

Wigan made them pay for their profligacy as they scored the opening try with their first attack of note. After a quick play of the ball from Tomkins, Thomas Leuluai darted down the blind side and it was Josh Charnley who fed back inside to Hoffman who finished expertly for a debut try - Paul Deacon landed a fine conversion from out wide.

Saints pressed again but saw Paul Clough knock on when well-placed, while James Roby narrowly failed to get the ball down from close range.

Clinical

Wigan proved far more clinical and moved further ahead on the half hour mark when Hansen scored a fine opportunist try after a high ball caused confusion in the Saints defence

Meli allowed a towering Tomkins kick to bounce and Hansen bravely nipped in between Ade Gardner and Paul Wellens to collect and touch down - Tomkins added the conversion with Deacon having left the field injured.

Tomkins' bombs were proving a real problem for Saints and just a couple of minutes later they were fortunate to escape further punishment as Gardner made a mess of an attempted catch and was relieved to see the ball run safe as a couple of Wigan players converged to touch down

Michael Shenton then saw a try disallowed by the video referee who adjudged Andrew Dixon to have knocked on in the build-up, while Wigan defended brilliantly to hold their opponents up over the line more than once.

The Warriors took complete control of proceedings on 49 minutes when they manufactured a third try having got the ball back following a dubious goal-line decision.

They took full advantage of their break with a sweeping move from right to left which culminated in Carmont powering over out wide - Tomkins this time missed conversion.

At that point Saints looked devoid of ideas, but they gave themselves renewed hope on 64 minutes as the dynamic James Roby, his side's most impressive performer, produced a fine jinking run before offloading superbly to Wilkin who touched down next to the sticks.

The comeback gathered real momentum with ten minutes to go as Puletua wriggled out of a tackle and stretched over from close range to score, Jamie Foster kicked both conversions to bring Saints within four at 16-12.

A remarkable turnaround was complete when Meli nipped in at the corner after the ball had been spread from right to left, although Jonny Lomax's pass to the Samoan winger looked more than a shade forward.

Foster had the chance to edge his side ahead but pulled his conversion attempt from the touchline narrowly wide.

A frantic finale saw Tomkins' audacious 40-metre drop-goal drift just past the uprights, while Eastmond sent his effort wide with the last kick of the game after a penalty in the dying seconds had given Saints good field position.