Saints » Results

Saints breeze into next round

By Louise Fildes

Ade Gardner made a remarkable comeback from injury, scoring two tries, to help Saints comfortably beat Rochdale Hornets 70-10 and move one step closer to the Wembley final.

Saints crossed the whitewash 12 times to brush the plucky National League One strugglers aside, with Jon Wilkin claiming a well deserved hat-trick.

Saints chalked up six first half tries, with Captain Paul Sculthorpe landing all six conversions.

The onslaught started with a try from Francis Meli.

Gardner made a clean break down the right hand side which set the platform for Saints to attack. Quick hands lead to Meli squeezing in the corner.

Sean Long would have been pleased to see stand in Scrum half Matty have a solid game, and Smith was instrumental in Saints second. He broke through the Hornets defence and with a quick inside pass sent Wilkin clear to score his first.

James Graham was on hand to score the next, before a cut out pass from Leon Pryce sent Paul Wellens over for his first.

The fullback then scored his second after a superb break from Wilkin opened the door.

Saints rounded off their first half scoring with Gardner’s first try. A perfectly timed chip kick from Smith was caught by Gardner who cored in the right hand corner to give Saints a 36-0 lead at half time.

Saints did not hold back in the second half and scored six more tries and five Sculthorpe conversions to consolidate their place in the last eight.

Gardner was on hand to open the scoring after a break from Keiron Cunningham.

Wilkin and Meli then added their second.

But Rochdale showed grit – adding ten points of their own.

Saints rounded off the night with tries from Sculthorpe, Fa’asavalu and Wilkin.

Saints boss Daniel Anderson praised his team’s attitude and performance: “We played really well and I thought it was a ruthless performance.

“I thought that our tries were well constructed and we showed a lot of energy.”

St Helens: Wellens, Gardner, Gidley, Talau, Meli, Pryce, Smith, Graham, Roby, Cayless, Wilkin, Sculthorpe, Hargreaves. Replacements: Fozzard, Cunningham, Clough, Fa'asavalu.

Rochdale: Hulse, Andrews, Patterson, King, Fagborun, Svabic, Hasty, Bailey, Corcoran, Smith, Gorski, Gledhill, Goulden. Replacements: Marsh, McConnell, C. Robinson, Benjafield

Results

Saints 70 - 10 Rochdale Hornets

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Friday 11th May 2007, 8:00pm Attendance: 3586
	Vs
Saints	Vs	Rochdale Hornets
70		10