Leeds Rhinos 18 St Helens 31: Rhinos fall short as Saints revel in Monday night slot

IF Sky Sports wanted something to attract new viewers to Super League, this certainly did the trick.

Leeds Rhinos may have lost the first of 10 scheduled live televised Monday night fixtures last night – and lost ground on St Helens in the table as they remain rooted in eighth place – but the champions played their part in a typically enthralling encounter that lived up to its billing.

Rugby league has neither ventured so far towards the front of the Sunday Times nor secured as prominent a slot as it did this weekend.

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On page four, no less, and as the only respite from the customary ubiquitous football coverage, loomed the imposing figures of Leeds captain Kevin Sinfield – who last night passed 3,000 points for the club in his 416th game – and Saints star Tony Puletua.

In an eye-catching half-page Sky Sports colour advert marking the arrival of Super League Mondays – replacing football’s prime Premier League equivalent for the summer – the catchline was “A new night of earth-shattering rugby league action.”

Last night, the two most successful clubs in the competition’s history, certainly ensured there would be no questioning that in a pulsating contest only decided late on by some magic from tyro Saints scrum-half Jonny Lomax.

Indeed, if any football fans had automatically tuned in – forgetting their season was finally over – they would not have been disappointed by what they witnessed and may now hopefully be hooked.

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This Grand Final replay definitely lived up to the billing more than, let’s say, September’s drab goalless draw betwen QPR and Newcastle at Loftus Road.

However, for all their endeavour, and some marvellous displays up front from Ryan Bailey and Brett Delaney, the West Yorkshire club could not repeat their Old Trafford heroics.

Saints, who thrashed them 46-6 in March, won here for a fourth time in five years and had a little too much finesse when it mattered most.

The game had been level 12-12 at the interval following a curious first half. Saints went from flashes of the ridiculous – a lackadaisical Lomax meekly trying to pass before he even had the ball – to the sublime and, similarly, some of Leeds’s more consistent players endured moments of woe before atonement.

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Sinfield, for instance, recklessly tried hoofing Lance Hohaia’s ricocheting kick clear when ordinarily he would just dive on the loose ball.

That led to scrum-half Lomax showing his brighter side, brilliantly picking up one-handed and diving over in the 20th minute to cancel out Danny McGuire’s earlier try.

Sinfield also sailed a restart out dead following Saints’ second try yet, typically, came to the fore to provide a cover tackle on Francis Meli and then offered the required spark as his side levelled two minutes before the break.

Full-back Brent Webb – making his 150th start for the club – had unusually seen some less than testing kicks escape his grasp but then showed real confidence to weave across in front of his posts and unleash Zak Hardaker with an equally bold pass.

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When the young centre was held down by Tommy Makinson, it was Sinfield who linked with McGuire and straightened up the attack, piercing the Saints line with an injection of pace, shrugging off a tackler and passing inside for Delaney to go between the posts.

Some of Saints’ notable men had been sporadic too, James Roby handing over a pass to Leeds prop Jamie Peacock, but then offering his usual link after a superb Puleta off-load put him clear.

Lomax continued that and full-back Paul Wellens, as he so often has through a marvellous career, appeared in view to add the finish for Saints’ second on the half-hour.

Leeds struck first after the break when Jamie Jones-Buchanan latched onto Webb’s inside pass, broke Paul Clough and then saw the line open up in front of him as last man Wellens wrongly guessed he would pass inside.

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Sinfield improved but Saints quickly responded with an exquisite try both in its creation and finish.

Ex-Castleford centre Michael Shenton, who is surplus to requirements at Langtree Park next season and apparently speaking to Hull KR among others, stood up Sinfield with great footwork and then delivered a quality flick pass for Makinson.

The young winger had no right to score but he survived Webb’s shoulder charge and somehow got the ball down one-handed before being forced into touch.

He could not nail the conversion but did so when Saints took the lead just before the hour, the increasingly influential Lomax’s disguised pass slipping Sia Soliola through and then accepting the return pass.

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After Makinson was stretchered off in the 63rd minute following a heavy tackle from Carl Ablett and Sinfield – the captain put on report for his involvement as he appeared to catch the winger high – Saints further extended their lead.

For an example of delivering a ball from dummy-half, Roby’s fired pass was as good as they come as, with pressured Leeds expecting a kick while pegged on their own line, he somehow found Jon Wilkin.

Lomax converted and then, after Rob Burrow crucially wasted a Leeds opportunity, he added a penalty before coolly dropping a goal to end the hosts’ faint hopes of a fightback.

Meanwhile, concerns about fans not turning out on a Monday evening were unfounded, 15,343 attending last night compared to 16,034 in last year’s corresponding fixture.

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Leeds Rhinos: Webb; Smith, Watkins, Hardaker, Hall; Sinfield, McGuire; Leuluai, Burrow, Peacock, Jones-Buchanan, Delaney, Ablett. Substitutes: Bailey, Clarkson, Griffin, Lunt.

St Helens: Wellens; Makinson, Shenton, Wheeler, Meli; Hohaia, Lomax; Laffranchi, Roby, Perry, Flannery, Soliola, Wilkin. Substitutes: McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Flanagan, Clough, Puletua.

Referee: S Ganson (St Helens).