St Helens (26) 68
Tries: Gardner 4, Puletua, Flannery, Emmitt, Moore, Eastmond, Gidley, Lomax, Roby, Dixon Goals: Eastmond 5, Lomax 3
Hull KR (6) 12
Tries: Welham, Newton Goals: Dobson 2

Ade Gardner took his Saints' Super League try haul for the season to 10

St Helens moved into second place at the top of the Super League table after handing out another lesson in rugby league to Hull KR at Knowsley Road.

Beaten 54-0 at Murrayfield just 19 days ago, Rovers this time shipped 13 tries, four from Saints winger Ade Gardner.

Tony Puletua, Chris Flannery and young prop Jake Emmitt also crossed before the break as Saints went in 26-6 up.

And there were eight more tries in the second half as sizzling Saints ran up this season's biggest Super League win.

Scott Moore, Kyle Eastmond (who also kicked five goals), Matt Gidley, Jonny Lomax (who added three conversions, including his own), James Roby and Andrew Dixon all got on the scoresheet, along with two more second-half tries from Gardner.

But Rovers' cause was not helped by an indisciplined display which saw them reduced to 11 men at one stage.

Winger Ben Cockayne was sin-binned for a late tackle nine minutes before the break and Ben Fisher joined him two minutes later for a series of high tackles.

Justin Morgan's men were looking to repeat last year's 20-19 win at Knowsley Road and complete a notable double following their 28-24 triumph at Craven Park earlier this season.

But the Rovers players were forced to hitch a lift on a supporters' bus after they broke down on the M62.

"Maybe that was an omen for us," joked coach Justin Morgan. "Maybe we should have turned around."

But, against a Saints side on the rebound after last Saturday night's 42-34 defeat at Salford, it started to go wrong on the park from the fifth minute when Leon Pryce popped a delightful pass out to centre Matt Gidley and Gardner finished powerfully.

Astonishingly, Rovers then went 6-4 ahead, centre Kris Welham pouncing on Michael Dobson's kick, the scrum-half then succeeding where Eastmond had failed with his conversion attempt. But Saints seized control with three tries in nine devastating minutes.

Gardner once more took the direct route, centre Flannery regathered from Pryce's high kick to get Puletua over and then took Keiron Cunningham's pass to touch down himself.

Emmitt crashed over for his first try for the club from Roby's short pass. And Rovers were still a man short when Saints extended their lead with a sixth try, Puletua offloading from the tackle for fellow replacement Scott Moore three minutes after the break.

Even back to full strength, the visitors were no match for a pack led superbly by James Graham and classy half-backs Eastmond and Pryce.

Gardner again demonstrated clinical finishing to complete his hat-trick before Eastmond evaded three defenders in an electrifying individual burst.

When Rovers at last got their hands on the ball, they struck immediately, Newton pouncing on Dobson's kick.

Dobson's conversion made it 42-12 as the game entered the final quarter. But it was only a brief respite as Saints still found time to run in five more tries.

Roby's break created a try for Gidley, Gardner crossed for his fourth, and easiest, after Eastmond's lofted kick found him completely unmarked, Lomax raced in for a try, Roby scampered over at the corner and Dixon cashed in on a defensive mix-up.

St Helens coach Mick Potter said:

"I'm very happy with the response from the Salford defeat. The players knew they had to be better than last week. I thought our back three all had big games.

"I was pleased with our defence as well as our attack because the two tries they scored were both from kicks.

"As for Jake Emmitt, he's been going well at Leigh and deserved his opportunity. I'm pleased with what he's done."

Hull KR coach Justin Morgan said:

"I don't think the scoreline really reflected the effort we put in. To be down to 11 men sucked a lot of juice out of us.

"Unless I win the Euro millions, I'm not going to give my thoughts. I don't have enough money in my bank account. But it wasn't an even playing field, I don't think.

"But give some credit to Saints, who were smarting after getting beat last week. We most probably got a bit of the receiving end of that.

"At Murrayfield we were miles off but tonight I thought we kept trying to the bitter end and didn't get any bounces of the ball."

St Helens: Lomax, Gardner, Gidley, Flannery, Foster, Pryce, Eastmond, Graham, Cunningham, Hargreaves, Clough, Dixon, Roby.
Replacements: Puletua, Moore, Ashurst, Emmitt.

Hull KR: Briscoe, Fox, Newton, Welham, Cockayne, Murrell, Dobson, Vella, Hodgson, Clinton, Netherton, Galea, Watts.
Replacements: Lovegrove, Wheeldon, Cook, Fisher.

Referee: James Child (Dewsbury).

Attendance: 9,458.

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