St Helens ran rampant with a 10-try demolition of Widnes at Knowsley Road.

Widnes had no answer to the pace and power of St Helens and conceded five tries before the break.

Barry Eaton kicked Widnes into a 2-0 lead with a fourth-minute penalty before Chris Joynt sent Paul Newlove over for the first touchdown in the seventh minute.

Joynt himself then went over and although Saints lost Newlove though injury Joynt soon raced 40 yards for his second try.

Paul Sculthorpe, who also kicked seven goals from eight attempts, took a quick tap penalty to make it 22-2 before Martin Gleeson fed Tommy Martyn for a try just before the break.

Widnes, trailing 28-2, conceded further tries to Paul Wellens, Higham and Barry Ward before Phil Cantillon grabbed a consolation score.

Widnes were down to 11 men with Daniel Frame and Cantillon in the sin bin when Tim Jonkers went over with Higham's late try completing a miserable night for the Vikings in front of 12,069 fans.

Teams:

St Helens: Wellens, Hoppe, Newlove, Gleeson, Albert, Sculthorpe, Martyn, Britt, Higham, Shiels, Jonkers, Stankevitch, Joynt.
Replacements: Ward, Nickle, Bennett, Stewart.

Widnes: Atcheson, Munro, Potter, Dimitrio, Percival, Weston, Eaton, Stone, Cantillon, O'Neil, Richardson, McCurrie, Frame.
Replacements: Farrell, Relf, Spruce, Mills.

Referee: Robert Connolly (Wigan)