Super League: St Helens 20-18 Wigan Warriors - Late Lomax try seals Saints victory

St Helens' victory against Wigan was their second against their fierce rivals in Super League this season

Jonny Lomax's late try saw St Helens defeat 12-man Wigan in a Magic Weekend derby thriller to move four points clear at the top of Super League.

Lomax's score after Regan Grace's try moments earlier saw Saints snatch it.

Bevan French had crossed twice for Wigan, who had Brad Singleton sent off with 15 minutes left, either side of John Bateman crossing the line.

It was not until Lomax dived over with less than two minutes left that Saints sealed a dramatic win in Newcastle.

French's first try had put Wigan 6-2 up at the break after Jonathan Bennison gave Saints an early lead with a penalty.

He then then set Bateman up for the Warriors' second with an excellently placed kick following the interval, before Joe Batchelor and Jack Welsby hit back with fine solo efforts for Saints.

Wigan's hopes of hanging on for a victory that would have taken them level on points with Saints appeared to take a heavy blow when Singleton saw red for his high hit on Curtis Sironen.

And while Bennison levelled with the ensuing penalty, French restored the lead with just nine minutes left to put Wigan in control.

But Saints fully exploited their numerical advantage at the end of the exhausting afternoon at St James' Park, stunning their near neighbours with quickfire four-pointers from Grace and Lomax.

It was Saints' second Super League win over Wigan this season, although Wigan produced a classic derby victory of their own in the Challenge Cup semi-final in May on the way to lifting the trophy at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

'I always thought we could do it' - post-match reaction

St Helens head coach Kristian Woolf:

"I'm really proud of our blokes today. It was a high quality game of footy, it had that finals feel about it.

"We had periods when we were really dominant, we then went away from what we were doing so well but in the second half we played great.

"I always thought we would find a way to win it. That's what the club is known for. We hung in and we took our chances in the second half.

"That DNA in terms of never writing the Saints off is certainly something the club prides itself in, competing on every play."

Wigan Warriors boss Matt Peet:

"I'm disappointed with the loss, especially here at Magic, it's an occasion you want to enjoy with a win, but I think we will learn a lot from the game, in terms of building and sustaining pressure.

"We were there with effort and commitment but you've got to be smart as well.

"It shows that Saints are still the team to beat."

On the red card: "I could understand why it was given but sometimes I think the difference between a red and a yellow is open to interpretation.

"I think the dangerous thing about it now is that players are aware of it and physios are aware of it, players staying on the ground which probably crept into some of our players which I don't like.

"If that's the way we're going to police the game, that's the danger, but we've got to be better technique-wise and, if we are down to 12 men, we've got to handle that scenario better."

St Helens: Hopoate, Bennison, Hurrell, Mata'utia, Grace, Welsby, Lomax, Paasi, Roby, Lees, Sironen, Batchelor, Knowles.

Interchanges: Lussick, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Wingfield, Norman.

Wigan: Field, French, Isa, Bibby, Marshall, Cust, Smith, Singleton, Powell, Byrne, Farrell, Bateman, Shorrocks.

Interchanges: Smithies, Mago, Partington, Havard.

Referee: Liam Moore

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