Livett steps up as Warrington stun Saints

Warrington coach Tony Smith was delighted with the contribution of his back-up players as they helped overturn a 14-0 deficit to pull off a crushing 40-18 win over St Helens.

The Wolves were indebted to utility player Harvey Livett, 20, as he stepped into the breach with a man-of-the-match performance highlighted by a try and six goals.

Smith also singled out Livett’s half-back partner Dec Patton and former Wigan prop Dom Crosby, who made his first appearance for two months, as the Wolves overcame the absence of England trio Chris Hill, Kevin Brown and Stefan Ratchford to revive their Betfred Super League top-eight hopes.

“It was probably our best performance in the league,” Smith said. “After a costly start, we showed a lot of spirit to work our way back in and control it the way we did.

“We ended up with one of our least mistake-riddled games of the season and that gave us an opportunity to defend well.

“Harvey was very good. He came up with a couple of errors but got stronger as the game went on.

“Declan came up with some good plays, Mike Cooper really led the way up front for us, Benjamin Jullien had a wow of a game in attack and defence and Dom’s impact was terrific for someone who hasn’t played for so long. There’s going to be a few headaches when we get our England boys back.”

Salford coach Ian Watson was delighted his club are starting to give the big clubs a run for their money as they moved second.

The Red Devils ran out 31-16 winners against Super League champions Wigan to record their first success over them in 20 years and the first at the DW Stadium.