Warrington 16 (8) Tries: Fa'afili, Appo Goals: Briers (4) St Helens 18 (4) Tries: Graham, Albert, Higham, Cunningham Goals: Wellens

The home side had a dominant first half and a Lee Briers penalty and Henry Fa'afili's try gave them an 8-0 lead.

James Graham crossed just before the break for St Helens but a try from Graham Appo put the Wolves 16-4 up.

Saints refused to give in and Darren Albert and Mick Higham crossed before Cunningham scored from close range to break Warrington hearts.

The win lifts Saints to second in the early Super League table while Warrington are struggling near the bottom with one win from their opening four games.

It was a match they should have won however, and coach Paul Cullen will be fuming that his birthday celebrations have been ruined.

The Wolves got an early let off in the fourth minute when Willie Talau's try was cancelled out by the video referee, who ruled that Fa'afili had been pushed off the ball by Ade Gardner.

Warrington hit back two minutes later through Briers' penalty before the video referee ruled in their favour to award Fa'afili a try after a mistake from Saints full-back Paul Wellens.

At half-time the players talked about having to score two tries in the last five minutes to win the game St Helens coach Ian Millward

Higham played in Graham just before the break but another penalty from Briers on 47 minutes put them six points ahead.

Warrington continued to dominate possession but could not break through the Saints defence until the 71st minute when Appo took Ben Westwood's pass for what seemed to be a match-winnning score.

But Saints dug in and Albert, celebrating his 100th appearance, gave them a glimmer of hope on 74 minutes.

With the Wolves defence reeling and St Helens in the ascendancy, Higham was able to touch down while Wellens' conversion cut the deficit to just two points.

Saints launched one final attack and as the hooter sounded, Jamie Lyon hoisted a hopeful kick into the dead-ball area which bounced off Albert into the arms of Cunningham who powered his way over for the dramatic winner.

St Helens coach Ian Millward said his players had delivered on their half-time talk.

We've done everything but win the game Warrington coach Paul Cullen

"At half-time the players talked about having to score two tries in the last five minutes to win the game," he said.

"It was incredible deja vu. I've never experienced something like that before.

"I felt we finished the first half well so there was no reason why we couldn't do the same at the end of the match - as long as we kept our composure."

Meanwhile, Warrington coach Paul Cullen pointed a finger at his side's lack of discipline.

"The discipline from a number of our individuals was insufficient to win a game of this quality and this pace," said Cullen after the 18-16 defeat.

"We've done everything but win the game - we lost it by the needless penalties some of our players gave away."

Warrington: Grose, Fa'afili, M. Gleeson, Kohe-Love, Gaskell, Briers, Appo, Leikvoll, Clarke, Hilton, Swann, Wainwright, Westwood.
Replacements: Bracek, Stevens, M. Gleeson, Lima.

St Helens: Wellens, Hardman, Albert, Talau, Gardner, Lyon, Higham, Fozzard, Cunningham, Anderson, Gilmour, Bennett, Wilkin.
Replacements: Edmondson, Fa'asavalu, Roby, Graham.