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Rugby League

Saints go marching on after demolition of Warriors

04/05/2008

St Helens crushed Wigan 57-16 in Super League at the Millennium Stadium.

The Saints, who led 35-0 at the break, rammed in ten tries with Sean Long grabbing a hat-trick and kicking seven goals.

St Helens move into third place, six points behind leaders Leeds, while the Warriors slip to seventh place.

The 2006 champions were rampant in the first half and were 12-0 after 16 minutes with tries from Long and Jon Wilkin.

Francis Meli increased the Saints' advantage six minutes later when he collected Sean O'Loughlin's misplaced pass and sprinted 70 yards to cross the line, which was confirmed by the video referee despite Wigan's appeals for offside.

The Saints scored their fourth try when Matt Gidley kicked through for Ade Gardner to pick up and crash over.

Three minutes later, St Helens were 28-0 ahead when Lee Gilmour spotted Willie Talau who touched down in the corner.

Brian Noble's side continued to be caught out on the break with Long galloping 70 metres to go over for his second try.

Long added a drop goal on 37 minutes to cap off a devastating half for the Saints.

Wigan fans finally had something to cheer about when Thomas Leuluai crossed the line at the start of the second half.

But St Helens soon restored their dominance with Long completing his fourth hat-trick for the club when he sidestepped Wigan's defence with ease.

Talau and Gardner then both grabbed their second try in the space of eight minutes to push the Saints past the 50-points mark.

By the time the Warriors scored their second try through Harrison Hansen, most of their fans were halfway up the motorway.

St Helens completed the rout in the final five minutes with Mick Higham and then Gilmour crashing over.