Leyland helps St Helens fight back to stun Wigan

Betfred Super League

St Helens (10) 34

Tries: Whitley, Clark, Hastings, Sailor, Leyland 2 Goals: Sailor 5

Wigan (12) 24

Tries: Smith, Farrimond, Field, Eckersley Goals: Keighran 4

Bill Leyland scored a dramatic pair of late tries on his St Helens debut to earn them a stunning Super League derby win over Wigan Warriors.

Harry Smith got Wigan going as Matt Whitley hit back, while Jack Farrimond and Daryl Clark exchanged tries soon after.

Jai Field, on his return from injury, and Zach Eckersley gave the visitors what looked to be a commanding 24-10 lead before Saints pulled off a remarkable late comeback.

Four tries in just over five minutes followed, first through Jackson Hastings and Tristan Sailor before Leyland's sensational double in the final couple of minutes.

Leyland only signed on a short-term one-week loan from defending champions Hull KR earlier this week and his two tries were his first in Super League.

The result moves Saints level on points with Wigan, who were dethroned from top spot after Leeds beat Bradford in their derby later on Friday.

In a tempestuous opening couple of minutes, St Helens' Jake Wingfield accused Brad O'Neill of spitting in his face, with referee Jack Smith putting the incident on report.

Soon after, Smith scored his third Super League try of the season in impressive fashion, as he wrongfooted the Saints back line to race through.

St Helens kept up the pressure in response and were rewarded after they worked wide following another set of six, feeding Whitley to touch down in the corner, but Wigan held a slender lead when Sailor missed the extras.

Wigan thought they had raced further ahead when Kaide Ellis went over, with referee Smith initially giving the try, but video referee Marcus Griffiths correctly overturned the score when replays showed that Wingfield put in a tremendous defensive effort to hold him up.

That disallowed try did not quell Wigan's resolve however, as they added a second try to their tally in impressive fashion when Farrimond's kick was palmed back into his path by Eckersley to send him through.

Clark showed fine strength to crash over for Saints' second but in the second half Wigan moved into what had seemed like a comfortable 14-point lead.

Field, who has been absent for a month having undergone surgery for appendicitis, worked onto a Harry Smith kick to goal to go in for Wigan's third try while Oliver Partington sent in Eckersley as Wigan added some daylight with 15 minutes to go.

Good Friday derbies between St Helens and Wigan rarely disappoint and the final stages of this encounter were no exception.

Saints' comeback nearly failed to get going as Hastings dotted down against his former club under pressure from Field as he just about squeezed the ball down before he went in to touch.

The hosts then pulled themselves to within two points soon after when Sailor converted his own try to set up a tense finale.

Yet it was Leyland, who had only been sent on just before the hour mark when Daryl Clark came off with a head knock, who sensationally tipped the game back to the hosts.

The 23-year-old joined alongside KR team-mate Jordan Dezaria earlier this week with Saints in the midst of an injury crisis - Mark Percival, Matty Lees, Jack Welsby, Jonny Lomax, Jacob Host, Nene Macdonald, Jake Burns and Alex Walmsley are all missing.

Leyland's first try came as he scooped the ball over the line but his second came courtesy of an audacious run-in from halfway, which sent the home fans into raptures.

It was a remarkable ending to turn the game from a 14-point deficit to a 10-point victory in a matter of moments, with the only negative point for Saints coming after Agnatius Paasi limped off early on with a hamstring injury while Shane Wright was forced off having clashed heads with Ellis in the second half.

St Helens boss Paul Rowley told BBC Radio 5 Live:

"Before the game, all season has been a story of adversity really. We've got 12 players missing that would normally be in our 17.

"The story for us has been how valiant and exceptional our younger players have been and how unbelievably strong in character our senior players have been, none more so than Jackson Hastings and David Klemmer.

"You go to a cinema and all the best films have adversity and an off-the-ropes type of story. Bill [Leyland] and Jordan [Dezaria] coming in, you just knew there'd be a headline somewhere. I guess we as a group and a team needed to decide whether that would be a good or bad one and it's turned out to be a good one.

"I'm really pleased for the two players to experience what they've just done and Bill in particular getting 25 minutes of brilliance to get us the win."

Wigan Warriors head coach Matt Peet told BBC Radio Manchester:

"It was everything you'd expect from a Good Friday game. Swings in momentum and good intensity and unfortunately we came off on the wrong side of it.

"You always know there's a potential for that [a Saints comeback] they've got points in them, they're going to keep asking questions and move the ball.

"The players spoke [in the dressing room]. They always know there's an opporunity in these games to put in an 80-minute performance and they're disappointed in themselves that they didn't get to do it.

"I don't think it was a case that we ran out of steam, I think it was that we didn't play well enough for long enough."

St Helens: Robertson; Dagnall, Whitley, Cross, Murphy; Sailor, Hastings; Klemmer, Clark, Paasi, Wright, Wingfield, Shorrocks.

Interchanges: Stephens, Davies, Dezaria, Leyland.

Wigan: Field; Eckersley, Keighran, Farrell, Marshall; Farrimond, Smith; Havard, O'Neill, Thompson, Nsemba, Walters, Ellis.

Interchanges: Mago, Partington, Eseh, Hodkinson.

Referee: Jack Smith.