LEEDS Rhinos coach Brian McDermott was beaming with pride after his side came from behind to beat St Helens 16-14 and strengthen their grip on second place in Betfred Super League.

For the third time in 2017, just two points separated the sides, with the Rhinos holding on for a precious home victory that keeps them on course for a home semi-final.

McDermott's men trailed 8-2 at half-time on Friday evening after St Helens full-back Jonny Lomax scored the only try of the first half.

But Leeds turned the game around thanks to a gutsy second-half performance, with winger Ryan Hall scoring a try on his 300th appearance and prop Adam Cuthbertson clinching victory late on.

"I've never not been proud of our players but I'm just extremely proud to be their coach tonight," McDermott said. "I don't know where we got that second half from.

"I thought Saints were great. They were beating us off the deck consistently in the first half and we never got a grip of their quick play-the-balls.

"We made far too many errors in the first half and I thought it would have taken too much juice out of us.

"We didn't change anything tactically for the second half, we just had to go out and roll our sleeves up and they did that right up to the final whistle.

"You might argue we should have executed better and I agree but I thought it was a great game of rugby league between two teams who were committed as anything. They were great defensively, we found it really hard to break them down."

Leeds' victory, coupled with Hull's home defeat by Huddersfield, means they are three points clear in second place with four rounds of the Super 8s to go.

"It's given us a big boost for second spot," McDermott said. "We've still a bit of work to do but it gives us a bit of breathing space.

"We're not guaranteed top four yet and I think the games will get tougher. The bar will need to be raised."

St Helens coach Justin Holbrook admitted there was a touch of deja vu after his side suffered a two-point defeat by Hull a week earlier as well as a 24-22 loss at Headingley seven weeks ago.

"I couldn't be prouder of my team," Holbrook said. "Unfortunately that's two weeks in a row we've been beaten by two points.

"I don't think we played poorly. We didn't have much ball in the second half. We were camped in our own half. But we got within two points away from home against a very tough side.

"We just couldn't get going for one reason or another in the second half but full credit to Leeds, they played very well."

Holbrook confirmed that Australian signing Ben Barba will make his debut in Saints' next game against Wigan after completing a 12-match ban imposed by the NRL for a doping offence.

"He's been training very well for a while now," Holbrook said. "It will be good to get him out there."