Saints too slick

Gardner: two tries for St Helens

St Helens continued to climb the Super League standings as they went second with a comfortable victory in north Wales.

Saints made a typically fast start and within seven minutes the Welshmen found themselves 12-0 down.

England hooker James Roby set up both Jonny Lomax and Lee Gaskell for tries, with Lomax going through a gap to score and Gaskell taking a pass from his hooker in the 25 and just stretching enough after being tackled to get over the line.

The Crusaders went close on two occasions to pulling a try back when both half-back Michael Witt and new recruit Hep Cahill were held up over the line by the Saints defence.

St Helens soon found themselves back down the other end and this time Gaskell kicked through for full-back Paul Wellens to ground the ball.

A third conversion from Jamie Foster put St Helens 18-0 ahead and the Welsh club looked on course for a hiding.

However, the Crusaders have fought back from bigger deficits before and on 22 minutes a cross kick from Lloyd White saw Saints fumble on their own line and former Welsh union captain Gareth Thomas grab the ball and drop over the line.

But the comeback was quickly snubbed out as St Helens grabbed two further tries before the break, as wing Ade Gardner was given a scoring pass from Wellens to go over.

Deserved

And finally Roby got a deserved touchdown when he stormed through the middle of the struggling home defence to go under the posts. Foster kept his 100% record and, by half-time, Saints were cruising at 30-6 ahead.

Crusaders got their second try just moments after the break when Witt made ground into the opposition 25, before sending a pass out to centre Tony Martin who glided over unopposed.

Frank Winterstein came close to scoring a third touchdown for the Welshmen only to drop the ball over the line.

Martin also almost scored again in the right corner when he was held up on the line, before White did manage to cross and reduce the deficit further.

But Gardner and Saints had the final say as the winger scored his second of the night on the hooter.