They lost Paul Sculthorpe (shoulder muscle), Maurie Fa’asavalu (ankle sprain), Kyle Eastmond (wrenched shoulder) and Jason Cayless (ankle) in the space of an hour, but St Helens’s last 13 players would not be denied in the outstanding game of the engage Super League season last night.

Despite running out of bodies and falling 22-14 behind after 52 minutes against a Warrington Wolves side who were confident of ending a seven-year hoodoo against their local rivals, St Helens conjured second tries by Paul Clough and Ade Gardner in a devastating four-minute spell.

Clough then cut inside the Warrington defence for the night’s second hat-trick, after Kevin Penny’s three on the wing for the Wolves, who simply ran out of steam.

With Matt King showing the flair that made him an Australia centre, Penny scored two scintillating first-half tries. In between, Clough spun out of a tackle and Keiron Cunningham was the provider for Ade Gardner.

Michael Monaghan’s long pass was intercepted 80 metres out by Francis Meli in putting Saints 14-10 clear at the break, but within two minutes of the restart, Penny had skinned Gardner with a shake of the hips. When Ben Westwood set up Jon Clarke, home fans in the 13,024 crowd began their premature celebrations.

Lee Briers conceded a penalty at a scrum and the momentum of Clough’s second try was maintained by Gardner taking a bobbling ball from Sean Long.