We are still some way from knowing just how significant this victory will be for St Helens in the scramble for the Super League playoffs but it was difficult to escape just how monumental an evening this felt for them.
There has been no shortage of adversity stacked against Saints. Injuries, poor performances and mounting pressure on the coach, Paul Wellens, has led many to feel there was next to no chance of this side being in the picture for Old Trafford come the autumn: but things change quickly in the wild world of Super League.
Five victories in a row have propelled the Saints from the fringes of the playoffs to the lofty heights of third, overtaking the side they defeated here with a spirited display that felt so much more than two competition points.
Few would have given the Saints a chance against a Leeds side buoyed up by last Sunday’s victory at the league leaders, Hull KR. Those numbers would have dwindled further when Saints lost both their hookers, Daryl Clark and Jake Burns, to head injuries in the first half.
That left them a man light on the bench in blisteringly warm conditions, but they not only emerged victorious – their seventh straight win at the home of their great rivals – they did so with a character-laden display.
“It was a performance delivered under a hell of a lot of pressure and a heck of a lot of adversity,” said Wellens. “There are things we need to get better at if we’re to take that next step, but that’s a conversation for another day.”
The game’s only try came midway through the first half, when Tristan Sailor and Owen Dagnall combined to send the latter over to break the deadlock. Jonny Lomax added a penalty to make it 6-0 but that was the night’s scoring over before the half-time hooter.
Leeds have made great strides under Brad Arthur and like Saints, are in the Grand Final discussion. But this was categorically an off night for them, with their skey players struggling to unlock a resolute and stern defensive effort from St Helens. They will not look back on this night too fondly.
“It was a frustrating 80 minutes,” Arthur said. “We allowed them to frustrate us and with that frustration we had every player trying to come up with something special or win it on their own.”
Leeds certainly tried; you can never question their effort under Arthur. But on nights like these, when the opposition are defending for their lives, the Rhinos do need a little bit more of a cutting edge to their game. Not even the late yellow card for the Saints prop Agnatius Paasi could craft an opening for Leeds to take advantage of.
Written off for large periods of the year – perhaps rightly so in some aspects – this could yet prove to be the night where Saints fans began to believe this could be their year, against all the odds.
