St Helens 40 Castleford Tigers 30: Castleford unable to gatecrash Knowsley farewell

The St Helens legend, Keiron Cunningham, playing his final league game before retirement certainly ensured this match will live long in the memory with a dramatic late winner.

Leading 30-10, Saints looked to have secured second spot in Super League by leapfrogging Warrington, and ended Castleford Tigers' hopes of reaching the end-of-season play-offs for the second successive season.

But an amazing fightback by Terry Matterson's troops saw them level at 30-30 and in sight of squeezing into the top eight at the expense of Crusaders.

Yet that was not in the script on 33-year-old Cunningham's league farewell at Knowsley Road, Saints' home for 120 years, as he bulldozed his way over for a try with 20 seconds remaining.

There will be no bigger celebration if Saints win at Old Trafford in the Grand Final next month, as the home fans stood to worship their retiring hero, Cunningham held lofted on his team-mates shoulders to take the standing ovation

Yet after the first 10 minutes, there was no indication of the drama that would ensue.

With the sounds of the brass band's Saints Go Marching In still hanging in the air, the hosts kicked off their final league game at the historic Knowsley Road before their move to Widnes next season and a new stadium in 2012.

Any fears the emotion of the occasion could affect Saints was cast aside with an opening home blitz. In just the third minute Paul Wellens finished off a flowing attack down the left flank involving Jonny Lomax, before Cunningham slipped in James Graham to crash over.

Jamie Foster adding both conversions and at 12-0 after just nine minutes, it looked ominous for the Tigers.

Rare pressure on the Saints defence saw Ryan Hudson feed Ryan McGoldrick to stretch over for a Castleford try to the delight of the several hundred travelling supporters from West Yorkshire, but Joe Westerman missed the conversion, pulling his kick wide.

The swift response was key for Castleford, giving them a foothold in the contest and refusing to be over-awed by the farewell celebrations.

Cunningham was held up over the line by Westerman as Tigers withstood the probing Saints and silenced the home crowd.

Matt Gidley halted Rangi Chase's break, while Mitchell Sergent seemed to be at the heart of Castleford's driving runs and defensive tackles.

But Tigers' lack of cutting edge was highlighted when Saints settled their first-half nerves with a late try.

Lomax broke away from inside his own half, after a loose Chase pass, and despite being dragged down, the danger was not cleared and Kyle Eastmond – who had been hobbling with a hip injury for the most of the first 40 minutes and probably surprised himself to still be on the pitch – dinked a kick through and Chris Flannery scooped the ball up to score.

Foster's conversion stretched St Helens' lead to 18-4 at the break, and with Crusaders leading 12-6 against Hull KR in Wrexham, Matterson knew his half-time team-talk could be his last of the campaign.

Needing to overturn a 14-point deficit, Tigers came out in determined fashion for the second half.

And a piece of brilliance from Chase created an opening try within four minutes. He looked outnumbered, but a smart sidestep created an opening and the supporting Adam Milner was on his shoulder to race over for a Westerman-converted try.

With Saints needing to win by more than eight points to leapfrog second-placed Warrington Wolves, at 18-10 the contest was finely balanced.

And if the hosts had anyone to thank for swinging the game their way then 20-year-old Lomax would have been top of the list.

His incisive running tormented the Tigers defence and allowed Francis Meli to canter over for a try before Tony Puletua twisted in the tackle and shrugged off a posse of Castleford tacklers to pinch Saints' fifth try.

Foster added the conversions to both tries to make it 30-10 and the result seemed assured, although the Tigers refused to lie down as Kirk Dixon was held up over the line before Dean Widders bulldozed his way over to ground the ball.

As Westerman's conversion attempt sailed wide, Castleford were now relying on Hull KR to come from behind and beat Crusaders. News that they still trailed 24-18 to Brian Noble's side, though, offered little hope.

Saints had several chances to increase their lead, but the Tigers defence held firm. James Roby dropped the ball over the Tigers line before a handling error from Gidley saw a scoring opportunity disappear 10 metres out.

Brett Ferres was even closer to the Saints line, but knocked on, at the other end of the pitch, before Castleford sparked the dramatic ending with three tries to level the scores.

First Michael Shenton – who is joining Saints next season – squeezed over for a try. Dixon's missed conversion, Tigers' third of the evening, looked like proving costly.

Then Chase scampered away for Hudson to dive over, before the duo combined to put Ridders away as Saints' defence in the centre crumbled.

Dixon converted both to level at 30-30 and Tigers were just a drop goal away from securing victory and eighth spot.

But up popped Lomax, tunnelling through before a cheeky offload put in Gidley. Foster missed the conversion but there was no denying Cunningham his fairytale ending, barging over the line as Foster converted in front of the posts to secure home advantage in the play-offs.

"We were not ready for the end of the season, but I am really proud of my guys," said Matterson.

"Twelve weeks ago nobody would have thought we would have been in this position – to come here and push them all the way with what was riding on the game for them was a great credit to our guys. But we have just come up a little bit short."

St Helens: Wellens, Foster, Gidley, Meli, Gardner, Lomax, Eastmond, Graham, Cunningham, Puletua, Flannery, Wilkin, Roby. Substitutes: Soliola, Hargreaves, Moore, Clough.

Castleford Tigers: McGoldrick, Dixon, Shenton, Ferres, Wainwright, Widders, Chase, Sargent, Hudson, Higgins, Jones, Snitch, Westerman. Substitutes: Huby, Milner, Walker, Arundel.

Referee: B Thaler (Wakefield).