Super League: St Helens 34-16 Wigan Warriors - In-form hosts earn ruthless derby win
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Jack Welsby scored two tries on his 100th appearance for St Helens
Betfred Super League |
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St Helens (18) 34 |
Tries: Batchelor, Makinson 2, Welsby 2, Paasi, Walmsley Goals: Makinson 5 |
Wigan (10) 16 |
Tries: Field, French, Miski Goals: Smith 2 |
In-form St Helens consigned Wigan Warriors to a miserable derby defeat to maintain their Super League turnaround.
Joe Batchelor crashed over to put Saints ahead but Jai Field's chase on to Harry Smith's kick levelled things.
Tommy Makinson and Jack Welsby scored either side of Bevan French's try while Agnatius Paasi added to Saints' lead.
Welsby and Makinson both doubled their tallies after the break to put the hosts in control, with Abbas Miski running in a late consolation.
Wigan came into the derby off the back of a chastening defeat by leaders Catalans at the Magic Weekend, while St Helens had lost five of their first 10 games but have now won five in a row in all competitions, including four in Super League.
The hosts wasted no time in getting off the mark as Batchelor scored in impressive fashion in the opening minutes by rolling himself over the line before powering the ball down under pressure from the visitors.
Saints could have marched further ahead were it not for Makinson's wayward penalty attempt from distance and Wigan made them pay soon after.
Field crossed over with ease having worked on to a sensational kick to goal from Smith, who added the two in front of the sticks courtesy of his pinpoint delivery.
Makinson hit the post from his second penalty attempt of the evening but he atoned for his inaccuracy as he ran in at the corner following a scrum moments later.
French's try came as Welsby slipped in an attempt to intercept the Australian's kick through, allowing French to regather and run in with ease to claw Wigan back to within two points.
Welsby, on his 100th Saints appearance, then made up for his error with a similar try, as he kicked and chased to pad the hosts' lead out just before half-time.
After the break, Paasi added to St Helens' advantage but a moment of brilliance from James Roby, dummying to cut through the Wigan defence, eventually led to Welsby adding his second try.
Scorer turned provider just past the hour mark as Welsby sent in a stellar long offload to Makinson who duly ran in at the corner with the hosts never looking in danger against an off-the-pace Wigan side.
St Helens head coach Paul Wellens:
"For such a young player Jack [Welsby]'s maturity is incredible, and his quality speaks for itself.
"Sometimes Jack wants to go out and show everyone how good he is, but he has been really patient in recent weeks and what he's done is keep things simple. When he gets the opportunity he grasps it, and that's what he did tonight.
"I told the group to forget about the outside noise because we are a team heading in the right direction. We've had to do things a bit differently this year given the experience of Australia and off the back of a World Cup.
"We've really simplified our game in recent weeks, and by keeping it simple and playing to our strengths I think we've become tough to handle and it's a blueprint for moving forward.
"Early on in the year when we were going through tough periods I always felt we were never quite as far off as some people were making out. What you've seen in recent weeks is people starting to get back to the level that they know they can play at."
Wigan Warriors boss Matt Peet told BBC Radio Manchester:
"It's disappointing and it's not nice to lose, particularly by some score at St Helens. It's a tough night for us and we're not playing particularly well at the moment.
"I thought there were periods of the game where we did some decent things defensively but with the ball we were well short.
"We'll work on it in training and keep confidence up. Maybe we'll change up the team a little bit and get some players back but the biggest thing is just to keep working hard.
"The power they had on the bench was clear to see and that's how it played out. They're a strong team who were fully loaded tonight and we weren't but we'll take it on the chin."
St Helens: Welsby; Makinson, Hurrell, Percival, Ritson; Lomax, Dodd; Walmsley, Roby, Lees, Sironen, Batchelor, Knowles.
Interchanges: Mata'utia, Lussick, Paasi, Bell.
Wigan: Field; Miski, Thornley, Wardle, Marshall; French, Smith; Ellis, O'Neill, Byrne, Shorrocks, Farrell, Smithies.
Interchanges: Cust, Singleton, Mago, Hill.
Referee: Chris Kendall.