Saints go marching on

Graham: led from the front for Saints in a pulsating derby

St Helens will be back at Old Trafford for a sixth successive year after clinching a 26-18 victory over Wigan at the Stobart Stadium.

The in-form Saints scored 18 points to turn around a half-time deficit at the Stobart Stadium and set up a showdown with Leeds next Saturday to decide who will be crowned this year's Super League champions.

The Warriors' hopes of retaining their crown looked on when they led their arch-rivals 12-8 - only for their neighbours to come storming back.

Paul Wellens, Jamie Foster and James Roby all touched down in the second half to end their neighbours' run as champions, meaning Michael Maguire will not end his highly-successful reign at the DW Stadium with a double.

Last two standing

Instead it will be Maguire's fellow Australian Royce Simmons who will be looking to halt the late charge from the Rhinos, as the third and fifth seeds are the last two left standing on the road to Manchester.

The Warriors did all they could to avoid following in the footsteps of Warrington in falling at the final hurdle, making a pulsating start in Widnes as they looked to avenge a loss to Saints in the opening round of the play-offs.

They broke the deadlock with a fifth-minute penalty from Pat Richards before grabbing the opening try through Josh Charnley.

The winger was gifted the chance to canter in at the right corner after Jamie Foster had made a mess of dealing with Thomas Leuluai's grubber kick, his initial error being compounded by his inability to stop his opposite number from slipping through his grasp.

It looked like a second try was coming down the same flank when Sam Tomkins curved his way into space, only for the full-back's pass to be behind his brother, Joel, with an overlap on.

Saints were grateful for the let-off and, after weathering the early storm, began to grow into the game themselves, having barely crossed the halfway line for the first quarter of the contest.

Lee Gaskell got them on the board after 24 minutes when he finished off Jonny Lomax's delayed pass, charging over Sam Tomkins to get the ball down. It was a much-needed try for both Saints and the player, with Gaskell having failed to finish a break down the middle on the previous set.

Foster converted to level the scores and then pushed the hosts into the lead for the first time with a penalty from in front of the uprights.

But, just as it appeared St Helens were the side in the ascendency, Wigan seized the half-time lead with a rare try from Eamon O'Carroll, the Hull-bound prop rolling over the line next to the uprights to leave Richards an easy kick.

Too strong

A four-point cushion was never a comfortable one, though, and Saints simply proved too strong for the Warriors in the second half.

Wellens somehow collected and grounded Roby's grubber, the full-back swivelling 180 degrees to get over for the 200th try of his St Helens career.

Foster knocked over the conversion and also added a penalty to make it 16-12, before his try in the left corner put some daylight between the two near-neighbours, even though he couldn't quite kick the extras from the touchline.

Wigan mustered up all the energy they had left to launch one late assault, and only last-gasp ankle taps from Sia Soliola and Michael Shenton on Harrison Hansen and Sam Tomkins respectively stopped them from finding a route back into the game.

Instead the next try came from Roby, who darted out of dummy-half to breach a tiring defensive line, meaning Sam Tomkins' late effort was a case of too little, too late. A sixth and final derby of the year between the two neighbours had not disappointed, with Saints the ones to go marching on.