A hat-trick from Paul Clough eclipsed another from Warrington's Kevin Penny as St Helens claimed victory in a Super League classic.

Penny crossed twice in the opening half but tries from Clough, Ade Gardner and Francis Meli put Saints 14-10 ahead.

The Wolves looked to have taken control with Penny's third score just after the break while Jon Clarke added another.

But Saints fought back and two tries from Clough and one from Gardner in the final 25 minutes sealed a dramatic win.

Saints started quickly and could have scored on their first possession as Jason Cayless was held over the line.

But Wolves hit back and were rewarded when a weaving run from Chris Riley was followed by a combination between Michael Monaghan and Matt King, which put Penny over.

Saints then lost Paul Sculthorpe with what looked like it could have been an arm or shoulder problem.

Fellow forward Maurie Fa'asavalu also failed to see out the first half, although by the time he took his exit, Saints had battled their way back ahead with two quick fire tries.

Both came in the right-hand corner, the first after King had flapped at a Sean Long kick and Clough went over after a Keiron Cunningham pass.

Cunningham was the provider again moments later as Ade Gardner crashed over from close range.

However, Warrington went back in front when King found space out wide and put Penny over for his second try.

The hosts pushed for another before the break but were punished as Francis Meli seized on a wayward Monaghan pass to sprint the length of the field to score.

Long converted to give Saints a four-point cushion with the last kick of the first half.

But the match swung back in Warrington's favour as Penny completed his treble within moments of the restart.

Lee Briers broke from deep inside his own half and King fed his winger and Penny did the rest, producing a magical burst of pace to skip past Gardner and score.

The Wolves grabbed another as Ben Westwood broke the line and put Jon Clarke over, with more goals from Hicks giving the hosts a 22-14 advantage.

Saints managed to respond with another try as Clough powered over from close range.

And they hauled themselves level when a pass from Long put Gardner in the clear out wide for a simple touchdown.

Long's touchline conversion edged the visitors ahead and they secured a remarkable victory when Clough cut inside to score again with eight minutes left.

Warrington coach Paul Cullen:

"You've really got to appreciate the effort and attitude of your players, I thought that was fantastic today.

"We are never going to scrape a win against a St Helens side that doesn't turn up, we have got to try to outplay St Helens.

"I thought that attitude tonight was there for all to see. We really took the game to them."

Saints coach Daniel Anderson:

"It was a confrontational, aggressive game - I haven't seen a whole set of scrum eyeball each other like they did at the end there.

"I think it was as tense a crowd going against each other. It is normally more light-hearted but it was a bit tasty.

"There were changes in momentum and Warrington were very, very good - we were just a little bit better."

Warrington: Hicks, Riley, M Gleeson, King, Penny, Briers, Monaghan, Morley, Clarke, Rauhihi, L Anderson, Westwood, V Anderson.
Replacements: M Gleeson, Parker, Bracek, Harrison.

St Helens: Gidley, Gardner, Flannery, Talau, Meli, Roby, Long, Cayless, Cunningham, Graham, Gilmour, Sculthorpe, Wilkin.
Replacements: Hargreaves, Clough, Fa'asavalu, Eastmond.

Referee: A Klein (Australia)