SAINTS boss Paul Wellens described his side’s Golden Point knockout as “just soul destroying” as he was left to rue the errors that contributed to the season ending play-off defeat.

Although Saints put in a monumental effort – arguably the best they have played against top ranking opposition since Good Friday – that they ultimately came up short was down largely to two or three key errors.

Despite getting off to the worst possible start when Tommy Makinson dropped the kick off, leading to Warrington’s opening score from Toby King, Saints knuckled down and physically rattled the hosts.

And there was, particularly in the first half, something refreshing about the way they attacked – finding opportunities on the wings with Makinson atoning for his first play error with two excellent finishes, with a Mark Percival score sandwiched in between.

Had Saints held that 16-4 lead going into the break then Warrington may have been revisted by the doubts that seem to perennially plague them at play-off time.

But a special piece of play from the outstanding George Williams fashioned a score for Matty Ashton.

In a pulsating second half, Saints hung on for a further 15 minutes until Daryl Clark was mugged by Danny Walker for a ball steal and from the subsequent foray King darted through from Williams’ pass to level matters.

The pendulum was now swinging back with the Wire and it was their turn to pin Saints back.

That defensive pressure and the ferocity of their line speed contributed to a woeful Clark pass from dummy half hitting the deck and seconds later Ashton had darted over to give Wolves the lead.

But Saints battled until the end, with Jon Bennison crossing in the corner, leaving Percival the task of keeping Saints alive with a touchline conversion with seconds on the clock.

But Saints never got a crack in Golden Point, with a yardage penalty killing them and giving Williams the chance to have a second, this time successful, strike at the winner.

Giving his initial assessment Wellens said: “First of all it I thought it was an unbelievable game of rugby league.

“That's what rugby league should look like.

“If the game looks like that every week people will tune in every week, people turn up on the terraces every week.

“So credit to both sets of players in that respect.

“I'm really proud of the playing group and the team and everyone connected with the club but obviously you carry that huge disappointment of being on the wrong side of the result.

“I think there's a couple of tries tonight where we gifted them 12 points. If you do that in a big game you make it difficult.

“We still could have got on the right side of the result despite that.

“But we hurt ourselves in a couple of big moments, which we have to reflect honestly on and we have to find improvements on moving forward.

“However, we didn't make those mistakes because they're lack of effort.”

When asked about the penalty in Golden Point Wellens was unsure about the call.

“It is a tough one for the referees - if you put yourself in their shoes in that cauldron you've got to get decisions right.

“It is really difficult but all game those kind of head contact out yardage haven't been penalised at all.

“And then we get one in Golden Point. So that's really frustrating.

“But we still could have handled that better than what we did so we were contributors in offering them field position,” he said.

More Paul Wellens reaction online tomorrow.