Paris St. Germain 12

Saints 32

'GALLIC mission accomplished and on course to fly the Super League pennant!' That was the signal from skipper Bobbie Goulding as table-topping Saints headed for home waters after safely negotiating this unique cross-channel encounter.

Now only Sheffield Eagles and Warrington stand between Saints and the realisation of that dream, and gallantly though Paris battled the French resistance was not strong enough to put Saints' march to the title in jeopardy on their first visit to the Charlety Stadium.

Torrential rain before and during the game rendered proceedings something of a lottery, with handling errors and aqua-planing rife as players struggled to maintain a foothold in treacherous conditions.

But although the dice was loaded heavily in favour of a visiting side holding the aces in pace, power and professionalism, it was nonetheless an extremely workmanlike performance from Saints, and underlined the view that they are already have the look of champions.

All this despite being without the injured Chris Joynt and Vila Matautia, while Paul Newlove remained on the substitutes bench with a toe problem - but there were also several 'plusses' during an eventful evening in Paris which saw Saints' extend their winning run to five matches

Not the least of these was the continued advance of regular stand-off Karle Hammond, who switched to loose-forward with aplomb and promises to remain a vital cog in a midfield link-up with Tommy Martyn and Goulding.

The ubiquitous Martyn and non-stop hooker Keiron Cunningham were not far behind Hammond in man-of-the-match ratings, while recalled centre Andy Haigh and partner Alan Hunte served notice that they intended to plug the gap caused by the recent departure of Scott Gibbs.

However, with due deference to on-field matters, the abiding memory in Paris throughout the weekend was of the self-styled 'Barmy Army' of Saints' supporters who - as if it were needed - provided conclusive proof that they are the best in the business.

Bedecked inevitably in red-and-white, sporting banners leaving no doubt as to allegiance and with the odd beret thrown in for good measure, more than 2,000 made themselves heard around Montmartre, the Eiffel Tower and Arc De Triomphe, not to mention the exotic Parisienne night-spots.

Obviously the magnificent Charlety Stadium became a focal point for Saints' supporters, who create a real' Last Night of the Proms' atmosphere with renderings of patriotic masterpieces such as 'Land of Hope and Glory,' while the reception for THEIR team was - as ever - deafening! However, that mass gathering of the travelling Knowsley Road faithful was in stark contrast to the handful of home supporters, and obviously places a question mark against the promotion of this season's 'French connection.'

Certainly from my experience I found no evidence of advertising of the visit of the English Challenge Cup holders and championship aspirants, while numerous inquiries as to the location of the southern Paris -based Charlety Stadium drew a blank, even from the capital's gendarmerie!

The fact that Saints' supporters paid for admission and the French fans did not was a bone of contention for those who had crossed both land and sea to watch the game, while a regular 'canned music' cacophony at crucial times was another irritant.

Having climbed down from my soapbox I found nothing but bonhomie and espirit de corps among the quite remarkable Saints' 'Army,' who seemed intent on spreading nothing more than entente cordiale and - of course - earning the the right result! And there were indications that was on its way within the first 10 minutes as Saints built up a 10-0 lead via tries from Hunte and Anthony Sullivan, both of which came from precision chips to the left-hand corner by Goulding, who also converted the first.

PSG then replied in like manner, which was a clue to conditions underfoot, when Patrick Entat kicked over Saints' line for Dion Bird to plunge over for Danny Smith to tack on the goal and bring Paris back into contention in trailing just 10-6 after 20 minutes.

A brilliant run by Hammond and strong supporting play by Joey Hayes ended with Apollo Perelini crashing over, but the Samoan powerhouse soon left the field with a knee injury as Smith reduced the PSG arrears with a penalty as Saints wandered offside

Replacement Ian Pickavance quickly made his presence felt with two storming breaks, and the ever-alert Cunningham burrowed his way across directly from the second play-the-ball to push Saints into a 20-8 at the break.

But the only floodgates about to open were - for the umpteenth time - from the skies with Saints' revised game-plan being one of containment, an understandable policy remembering the elements and demands on personnel. Adam Fogerty was placed on report for an alleged high tackle on Smith, but Saints responded in positive manner in the 50th minutes when a brilliant break and round-the-man pass by Martyn sent Steve Prescott over for Goulding to add the extra points.

Holding down cost Entat a spell in the sin-bin and Paris two points as Goulding landed the ensuing penalty, and Sullivan then rounded off Saints scoring in notching his second try after Goulding and Prescott had made the opening. Martyn then headed for the 'cooler' for a similar offence to that of Entat, and PSG capitalised on numerical advantage to score a try by winger Pascal Bomati, after Didier Cabestany had been 'turned' in the act of touching down.

Paris St. Germain: Luchesse; Bomati, Chamorin, Vergniol, Wilson: Bird, Entat; Bloomfield, Wulf, Sands, Pech, Bryant, Smith. Substitutes: Banquet for Entat (22), Cabestany for Bloomfield (25), Bloomfield for Sands (60), Griffiths for Chamorin (65), Parry for Pech (70).

Saints: Prescott; Hayes, Hunte, Haigh, Sullivan; Martyn, Goulding; Perelini, Cunningham, Fogerty, McVey, Morley, Hammond. Substitutes Pickavance for Perelini (25), Busby for McVey, Arnold for Haigh (55), Haigh for Hammond (72).

Referee: Mr. Bob Connolly (Wigan).

Attendance: 4,050.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.