Huddersfield (4) 4
Try: Nero

St Helens went two points clear at the top of Super League as they made light of difficult conditions with a 10-try thrashing of sixth-placed Huddersfield.

Jon Wilkin started the rout after six minutes, but Chris Nero soon hit back with the Giants' only try of the match.

It was one-way traffic from then on though, as Saints ran in four more tries for a 28-4 half-time lead.

A tiring Huddersfield had no answer after the break, as Paul Wellens' late try brought up the 50-point mark.

Buoyed by the news that three key young players - Wilkin, James Graham and Ade Gardner - had all signed new long-term contracts, Saints got out of the blocks quickly.

Willie Talau's clever angled run opened up the Giants defence, and Wilkin cut the perfect line off the centre to cross under the posts.

Huddersfield were stung into action, quickly forcing a repeat set, and an inch-perfect grubber from Brad Drew gave Nero a simple score.

But that was as good as it got for the visitors. Four minutes later, Leon Pryce burrowed his way over after good work from Keiron Cunningham and Matty Smith.

A blistering Cunningham break straight down the middle of the field created the next score for a rampant Saints.

Wilkin celebrated his new contract with a brace of tries

After taking the tackle on the 20m line, the ball was quickly worked to the left and Talau had a simple route to the tryline after his team-mates had worked the overlap.

Smith set Maurie Fa'asavalu on his way for the fourth try, and the giant forward skittled three players out of the way to score under the posts.

Talau fluffed another opportunity, knocking-on in the process of trying to score, but soon made amends by putting the kick ahead for Stephen Tyrer to score just before the break.

The half-time hooter could not come soon enough for a dispirited Huddersfield, but there was little respite early after the break with Gardner scoring on 46 minutes.

The winger was the beneficiary of a breathtaking give-and-take by centre Matt Gidley, giving him all the space he needed on the right touchline.

Wilkin celebrated his new contract with his second try of the night after Wellens' pass inside, but Huddersfield's defence showed some real pride to keep out darts from Cunningham and James Roby.

Lee Gilmour was the next St Helens scorer, coming back on the angle against an exhausted defence.

Huddersfield's miserable night was summed up when Rod Jensen's effort was ruled out for a knock-on after Gardner made a mess of dealing with Chris Thorman's bomb.

Tyrer, who finished with 22 points, grabbed his second with a skilful nudge ahead with his foot after Gardner's pass fell just short of his hands.

"It's not often I'm surprised but I was today. It was a truly exceptional first-half performance.

"Some of our second-half tries were a little bit lucky but we'd put ourselves in the position to score them.

"I've got some fantastic players and great support from the chairman. It's a good time to be St Helens coach."

"We didn't play like we did in practice all week.

"We got off to a poor start and we panicked. People tried to solve things individually rather than sticking to the systems that have worked for us.

"Our place in the table means nothing to me at the moment. I've got a team that needs to improve quickly."

St Helens: Wellens, Gardner, Gidley, Talau, Tyrer, Pryce, Smith, Fozzard, Cunningham, Cayless, Gilmour, Bennett, Wilkin.
Replacements: Roby, Graham, Clough, Fa'asavalu.

Huddersfield: Thorman, Reilly, Lolesi, Nero, Jensen, Brown, Drew, Mason, Paul, Skandalis, Jones, Raleigh, Wild.
Replacements: Jackson, Griffin, Hudson, Snitch.

Referee: Ben Thaler (Wakefield)