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Rugby League

St Helens score nine tries in dominant win over Wigan

21/03/2008

St Helens have beaten local rivals Wigan Warriors 46-10 at Knowsley Road to close the gap to Leeds at the top of the table to two points.

Saints ran in nine tries against the Warriors, including a brace for Francis Meli. Although Wigan defended manfully they could not stop Saints who were firing on all cylinders.

The home side dominated the first ten minutes of the match but could not convert that into points with Wigan defenders twice making try-saving tackles.

However, with 12 minutes gone Willie Talau broke the deadlock with a move that went the length of the field and ended with him accepting a blind pass from Leon Pryce to score in the corner.

That opened the floodgates and Saints scored a further 18 points in the next 26 minutes to take a 22-0 lead into the break.

Matt Gidley crossed the whitewash before Wigan had Mickey Higham sin-binned. That made Saints' task all the easier and allowed James Graham and Paul Wellens to get on the scoresheet.

Michael McIlorum got a try back for the Warriors after half time but tries from Sean Long and two from Meli put the hosts out of sight.

Before full-time the outstanding Pryce got a deserved try before George Carmont scored a consolation effort for Wigan. Kyle Eastmond completed the rout for Saints in the final minute.

Elsewhere, Warrington claimed second place just ahead of Saints thanks to a 30-14 win over Huddersfield. Winger Chris Hicks scored tries either side of half time to maintain his side's excellent start to the season.

Hull KR won the Hull derby 11-10 thanks to a drop goal by James Webster two minutes from time. At the Stoop, Catalan Dragons beat Harlequins RL 24-22 despite a David Howell hat-trick for the home side.

In the evening game, Wakefield scored five tries to beat Castleford 28-14 at Belle Vue.