Fortunately not, as a more confident Saints would not concede another point all match. Saints were under a lot of early pressure from the Welsh, the usual errors of knock ons and poor kicking making it seem like a return to recent losing form. Grayson's return to the side seems to have eased the pressure on Sharky, who was free to make his characteristic sniping runs.

Something not seen in a long time - Saints winning a scrum against the put in - occured in the first ten minutes, but the Saints spilled the ball and turned over possession. Saints pack drove the Llanelli eight well all day, making several significant gains in ground. Bruce Reihana had an exeptional game, his powerful running from full back will be mised greatly next season. Ben Cohen also showed some increased form, and with wylie on fire the back three had a fantastic match.

Scarlets had some good chances in the first half, a drop goal attempt going wide on 17 minutes, but Saints soon levelled the scores with a Paul Grayson penalty on 21 minutes. Bruce Reihana ran through a Llanelli tackle on 24 minutes and Saints looked on for a try, however a knock on brought them back.

Reihana also took several quick lineouts in the first half, two on 26 and 27 minutes. Another try chance went the way of a knock on after 29 minutes, the Saints attacking force seemingly only being stopped by themselves. A flurry of scoring late on in the half gave Saints the game.

Firstly, a penalty on the Scarlets 22 was slotted by Grayson, to push the Saints into the lead at 6 - 3 after 34 minutes. A Llanelli penalty two minutes later gave Saints a 22 drop out after it went wide.

After a brief kicking due between the two sides, Saints got a drive on, then Grayson went on a loop with Cohen, sending Bruce away who was held up just short. Fox collected the ball and drove over to give the Saints a 13 - 3 lead after Grayson's conversion.

More was to come beofre half time, however. Human collected the ball on halfway and powered through the Llanelli defence to socre in the corner. This time, Grayson couldn't convert, but it left the hal time score 18 - 3 to the Saints. They had played so well even the Church's gave them a standing ovation.

After the break (during which our own St Marlowe won the top 1st XV prize, which he collected from Chris Budgen after the match) there was always the worry of conceding an early score. Although the Welsh put some pressure on, the defence held and they were able to put pressure on themselves. Saints camped in the Scarlets half for most of the first ten minutes, Llanelli getting a penalty on half way on 55 minutes to clear their half. This signalled a brief attack from the Welsh, however the defence again stopped them in their tracks.

The major controversy of the match then occurred. What was clear from my viewpoint was, on the hour mark, Quinnell gave Sharky a choke hold. When Damien Browne went in to assist, he was punched. He then retaliated with a few of his own. Out of this mass scrap, Llanelli were awarded a penalty (correctly under the Laws) for Browne's retaliation. However, with the referee then ignoring Saints pleas for a card on the Welsh 8, Quinnell got away scot free (unless he is cited).

Saints reacted to the Llanelli pressure well, holding them out and counterattacking. A Saints free kick on

64 minutes for numbers in the lineout gave them an attacking platform. The Llanelli lineout creaked all day, under pressure, and when Krige stole one on the Welsh 22 and got nearly 10m from the line, all looked well. That is, of course, until the constant enemy - the knock on - thwarted another attack.

Around the 70 minute mark saw Grant Seely on for a hamstrung Matt Lord, and the debut of Johan Van Wyk for Dan Richmond at hooker. The class of the South African was shown in his first scrum, when the Welsh front row collapsed and all went down injured. He was joined in the front row by Brett Sturgess, on for the top class Tom Smith.

Saints had a lineout on their own 10 metre line on 74 minutes, which the pack drove on to the Llanelli 10.

Budgen went on a cracking run (one of many in the match) which Grayson sent out to Bruce, who put Wylie over for his second and Saints third try of the day. Grayson's conversion put the lead at 25 - 3. Sharky left the field with only injury time remaining, replaced by Johnny Howard.

Wylie Human summed up his Man of the Match performance by stopping the Llanelli second row dead in his tracks on the half way line. The final whistle followed a Saints lineout on the Welsh 10 metre line, a fantastic performance by every player. It was also nice to see Andy Blowers come over to the Tetley's stand after the match to chat and shake hands, as well as the return of the pre-match warmup run round the pitch.

All the players put in exceptional performances, but most notably Bruce Reihana, Wylie Human, Chris Budgen (at prop and inside centre), Matt Lord, Darren Fox, Mark Robinson, Paul Grayson, and the rest of the team!

Hopefully the winning run will continue against Leeds on Friday night, as we should have an entirely fit squad to choose from. With performances like this, however, Solly won't have much need for changes.