MATCH SUMMARY St Helens (36) 46 Tries: Lyon (2), Talau, Long (2), Albert, Gardner, Cunningham. Goals: Sculthorpe (7) Salford (0) 12 Tries: Baldwin, Alker Goals: Charles, Dickens.

With Long and Paul Sculthorpe back from injury, Saints scored six tries in the first half and two more in the second.

The first half was book-ended by tries from Lyon and Long, with Willie Talau, Paul Anderson and Darren Albert putting the game out of Salford's reach.

Long and Keiron Cunningham cancelled out tries from Salford's Simon Baldwin and Malcolm Alker in the second half.

Saints coach Ian Millward picked out centre Lyon and Kiwi debutant Vinnie Anderson for particular praise after the win over Salford.

"Jamie Lyon's skill level is getting better each week - he's exceptional on a dry track," said Millward.

"It was always going to be hard for Vinnie," he said. "But I thought his first-half performance was superb."

Salford coach Karl Harrison offered no excuses for their display, and said it was entirely their own fault.

"Some of our players didn't show up - we just didn't play well," he said. "We've done a hell of a lot on our defensive work, but we fell to pieces out there.

"But Saints were sensational in the first 20 minutes."

St Helens: Wellens, Albert, Lyon, Talau, Gardner, Sculthorpe, Long, P. Anderson, Higham, Fozzard, Gilmour, V. Anderson, Cunningham. Replacements: Wilkin, Graham, Roby, Bennett.

Salford: Beverley, Hodgson, Littler, Johnson, Stewart, McGuinness, Robinson, Dickens, Alker, Rutgerson, Jonkers, Coley, Charles. Replacements: Haggerty, Brocklehurst, Baldwin, Bamford.

Referee: Richard Silverwood (Dewsbury)