St Helens pulled off a narrow 20-18 victory over Leigh Leopards in round two of the Betfred Super League at the BrewDog Stadium.
It was Saints' first home game under new head coach Paul Rowley and they made sure to get their campaign on home turf off to a winning start, making up for their opening loss to Warrington Wolves in round one.
The visiting Leopards had a narrow 16-12 advantage at half-time, going over through Josh Charnley, Innes Senior and Bailey Hodgson, with Adam Cook converting two of the tries.
Meanwhile, St Helens had got on the scoreboard through Daryl Clark and Kyle Feldt, Jackson Hastings converting one plus adding a penalty from the tee.
Leigh were the first to score in the second half through a Cook penalty but then it was all St Helens as a Joe Shorrocks converted try and a Hastings penalty put them 20-18 ahead.
They then held on to that lead for over 20 minutes to claim the points.
St Helens had to contend with an early change too as Jonny Lomax left the field with a wrist injury which saw Tristan Sailor back in the halves and Harry Robertson at full-back off the bench.
With the Leopards on away turf, it did not take long for them to get going as they sliced through St Helens, Charnley getting to finish things off in the corner in the fourth minute for a 4-0 lead.
However, St Helens soon hit back as, after a period of pressure, Clark scooted out from dummy half and Hastings converted to put them 6-4 up inside 10 minutes.
In the process, Saints did suffer a crop of injuries as Lomax left the field and then Nene MacDonald limped off just after 20 minutes, moving Robertson to full-back and Matt Whitley into the centres.
After a successful captain's challenge in the 22nd minute, the home team moved 8-4 in front as Hastings sent over a penalty conversion.
The Leopards replied as Senior and Hodgson went over on the same edge within nine minutes of each other, Cook converting both to put his side 16-8 in front.
Just before half-time, St Helens struck again as Leigh made a mistake by letting the restart bounce back into the home team's possession. Off the back of it Saints bided their time then sent it out wide for Feldt to acrobatically finish in the corner and bring the score to 16-12.
Both sides had struggled defensively throughout the first 40 and that continued in the second half.
The first points went the way of Leigh as Cook slotted over a penalty for Saints being offside at the scrum.
But just two minutes later, off the back of a good set started by Robertson, Shorrocks powered over and Hastings converted to bring the scores level at 18-18.
Leigh then had a period of individual errors leading to massive pressure, Liam Horne and Cook causing the issues and giving Saints ample opportunities which saw them send a penalty over for a narrow 20-18 advantage with just over 20 minutes remaining.
After that, both sides chanced their arm, but it was St Helens with more territory and chances and despite not getting more points on the board they had Leigh where they wanted them.
Leeds put Super League newboys York Knights to the sword with a 46-14 victory at Headingley.
Brad Arthur's side ran in eight tries as they registered their first win of the season.
The Rhinos opened the scoring in the 12th minute when James McDonnell collected Jake Connor's kick to cross the line.
Paul Vaughan hit back for the visitors after cleverly spinning the tackle and Liam Harris' conversion made it 6-6.
But Leeds put their foot down and forged ahead in the 30th minute when Maika Sivo went over from close range, with Lachlan Miller finishing a team move two minutes later.
Chris Hankinson then scored before half-time as the Rhinos notched their fourth try of a powerful first half, with Connor converting three.
Ryan Hall sprinted clear after the restart to extend the lead and then Brodie Croft also crossed the line, minutes after Jordan Thompson had scored York's second try of the night.
Harry Newman and a second for Sivo completed the scoring for Leeds, as Scott Galeano's last-gasp try for York did little to change the scoreline.
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