A dominant first-half display against Saints was all a far cry from last week's heavy defeat at the hands of Ipswich, but Essex Eels were still on the wrong end of a 34-24 scoreline as they saw a healthy lead overturned.

They trailed to an early converted try but bounced back when centre John Hickey collected a short pass and barged over to score and, with 13 minutes on the clock, Eels took the lead for the first time when full-back Lloyd Williams scorched round the defence to cross in the corner.

As they slipped into top gear, Eels extended their advantage when Matthew Bryan touched down and Richard Pike converted to make it 14-6 -- a lead that was twice close to being increased when Essex players were held up over the line.

Eels were pegged back to just a two-point cushion but capitalised when opposing winger Paul Scott was sin-binned for dissent -- Pike's clever pass putting John Martin away into the corner to make it 18-12 at the interval.

A knock-on denied Hickey his second try inside a minute of the restart and Saints punished some lazy defending -- they travelled the length of the field in only three tackles -- to reduce the deficit soon after.

With 20 minutes to go, though, Eels were back in the ascendancy when Martin crossed again and Pike, Eels' star man on the day, converted to make it 24-16.

Derek O'Riordan was sin-binned for being over-aggressive in the ruck and Saints made the most of their numerical advantage with two converted tries.

Eels hit back with some sustained pressure, but it came to nought and a final Saints breakaway try meant a 34-24 defeat for the Essex outfit.

Published Thursday, May 22, 2003

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