Saints smash sorry Salford

St Helens made sure they did not suffer a second home defeat on the spin by coasting to a 38-12 triumph over struggling Salford.

Any chance of a repeat of Saints' shock 20-19 home loss at the hands of Hull KR disappeared in a one-sided first 40 minutes.

Jon Wilkin crossed twice before the break to send the leaky Reds on their way to a fourth successive Super League defeat.

The result meant a miserable return to his old club for current Salford boss Shaun McRae, who enjoyed a successful spell in charge of Saints.

Easier

Having squeezed to a 4-0 win away at Celtic Crusaders the previous week, Saints found points much easier to come by on their return to home soil.

England international Wilkin helped himself to a pair of tries while efforts from Leon Pryce and Chris Flannery gave the hosts a 20-0 lead by the break.

Salford - who restored Malcolm Alker to the captaincy in midweek - managed to hold out for all of 10 minutes before their defensive line was breached.

Keiron Cunningham and Sean Long combined to set up Wilkin to break the deadlock and the same pair created the second try for Pryce soon after. Long also slotted over both conversion attempts.

In between the Reds replied with a rare spell of pressure in their opponents' half and only a last-ditch tackle from James Graham denied Stefan Ratchford.

However, a two-try burst in the closing minutes put the game to bed as a contest.

Long was once again Salford's tormentor-in-chief, producing a wonderful up-and-under which caused panic in the defensive ranks. Wilkin rushed in to profit as the visitors were at sixes and sevens.

Before the hooter sounded Saints ran in a fourth, Flannery finishing off a sweeping move in the left corner. Long failed to add either of his last two conversions, though the misses would not prove costly.

On target

The scrum-half was on target with his fifth shot at the posts, though, after Ade Gardner had added his name to the scoresheet 10 minutes after the restart.

Graham and Cunningham, who darted over from dummy half in typical fashion, added further scores and with Long kicking both, Saints were 38-0 up with nearly 20 minutes to play.

Yet the only points that were scored up until the final whistle came from Salford, Karl Fitzpatrick finally breaking their duck in the left corner.

Andrew Thornley followed his team-mate's lead in the closing stages and with Ratchford goaling both, the Reds at least ended another tough day at the office on something of a high.