St Helens were forced to show their defensive prowess to stay in touch with Wigan after a rip-roaring first half of tonight's Super League derby at the JJB Stadium.

The Warriors dominated the first 40 minutes but failed to turn their territorial advantage into points.

All eyes were on debutant Martin Gleeson, the former St Helens centre, and he produced some neat touches in an impressive team display by the home side.

Wigan, who were forced into a late change when full-back Pat Richards pulled out with a calf injury, were full of confidence from the start with replacement Cameron Phelps setting a superb lead on his first appearance for two months.

Hooker Mark Riddell had the Saints defence back-pedalling with a terrific run which was relieved by an Ade Gardner interception and full-back Cameron Phelps went close to touching down Sam Tomkins' grubber kick.

Saints looked to be rattled by Wigan's early dominance and Leon Pryce and Keiron Cunningham both came up with uncharacteristic errors to put their side under pressure.

That pressure paid off after eight minutes when left winger Shaun Ainscough pounced on Thomas Leuluai's kick to the corner to claim his 10th try in just eight senior appearances.

Cunningham quickly made up for his error after Saints regained possession from the kick-off, forcing his way over in trademark fashion from dummy half for an equalising try and Paul Wellens added the goal to put his side in front.

Wigan thought they have regained the lead midway through the first half when second-rower Gareth Hock took Sean O'Loughlin's pass and twisted out of Matt Gidley's attempted tackle to touch down, but video referee Phil Bentham disallowed the try for a double movement.

As play swung from end to end, Saints forward Tony Puletua broke free only for his final pass to fall into the hands of Phelps and Gleeson twice tried to release his winger Amos Roberts.

It was nearly all Wigan in the second quarter but all they had to show for their efforts was a penalty from Roberts after Saints substitute Maurie Fa'asavalu was pulled up for a high tackle.

HT: Wigan 6 St Helens 6

It was a familiar pattern in the second half, with Wigan looking much the livelier team but lacking the cutting edge to make it count.

They missed a glorious chance to regain the lead when Roberts seized on a St Helens handling error near the line but made a mess of the pick-up.

The pressure eventually told on 52 minutes when Leuluai and Phelps combined to get Ainscough over for his second try at the corner, although it needed a series of slow-motion replays to confirm the winger stayed out of touch.

Roberts' touchline conversion made it 12-6 and it was the least Wigan deserved for their enterprise.

However, Saints struck back within six minutes to keep the game in the balance when they moved the ball out wide and centre Matt Gidley slid over for his side's second try.

Substitute Kyle Eastmond, making his first appearance of the season, took over the goalkicking and landed the touchline conversion to level the scores.