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Mark Percival stars against Broncos to send St Helens to the summit Mark Percival stars against Broncos to send St Helens to the summit
(about 3 hours later)
Mark Percival bagged 22 points as St Helens eased back to the Super League summit by cruising past London Broncos 58-16 in the capital. Nathan Brown admitted it was a case of job done after seeing his St Helens side return to top spot in the Super League after dispatching London Broncos 58-16 at The Hive.
The centre Percival scored two tries and kicked seven conversions as St Helens ran in 11 tries but – for the already-relegated Broncos – it was a 21st consecutive game without a win. Ahead of the contest, Oscar Thomas was drafted in at full-back for the Broncos mere days after rejoining from London Irish, while James Woodburn-Hall and Mike McMeeken replaced James Cunningham and Atelea Vea. Saints raced into a 32-6 lead inside 50 minutes, then withstood a fightback from the hosts, before running in five tries in the game’s final 15 minutes to romp home.
Saints made two changes from their last outing against Bradford, Matt Dawson and Josh Jones coming in for Tommy Makinson and Willie Manu. The St Helens coach, Brown, said: “I thought for about 30 minutes we were on form and when we scored just after half-time I thought it would be a blow-out.
It did not take long for the visitors to hit their stride, Lance Hohaia breaking the line to allow Percival to burst over for the game’s first try on seven minutes. Within five minutes that lead was doubled, Kyle Amor muscling through three tackles to touch down. The Broncos, who saw their relegation from the top flight finally sealed last weekend, were simply offering nothing as an attacking force.There was no let-up from Saints, Jordan Turner the next to canter over after a strong run from prop Alex Walmsley. “But credit to London – I thought their effort was outstanding and they hung in there.
The Londoners did get on the scoreboard midway through the half, profiting from a St Helens mistake as Woodburn-Hall raced home after a Jon Wilkin kick was charged down. “In fact, considering the position they are in, I thought their attitude was excellent.
That proved a brief respite though, as the visitors notched their fourth try moments later, Turner taking a short pass from James Roby to ease over for his second score. “I’m still pretty happy with the result overall.
Within 30 minutes the score was 28-6, Paul Wellens strolling over after gathering a loose pass from Hohaia that looked suspiciously forward. “I wanted an improvement from last week and I think I got that, and some of our tries showed what we can do as a side.”
To their credit, the hosts were close to conjuring up a second try of their own moments before the break, Thomas just unable to gather after an excellent offload from McMeeken. Mark Percival, Kyle Amor and Jordan Turner eased over inside the first 20 minutes as the visitors started the game on the front foot, before James Woodburn-Hall struck back for the home side.
Into the second half and normal service was resumed on 47 minutes, Percival helping himself to his second try after a flowing handling move involving Roby and Turner. Turner then grabbed his second, with Paul Wellens adding a fifth score before the break.
London were at least going down fighting though, Will Lovell notching the hosts’ second try when he took an excellent pass from Josh Drinkwater to slip inside Saints’s defence. The Broncos came up with their third try on the hour mark, Denny Solomona leaping highest to claim a clever Drinkwater kick and crash over. Percival added a second of his own, only for Will Lovell and Denny Solomona to cross to reduce the deficit to 32-16.
Stung into action, Saints soon ran in their seventh try, Dawson racing in after a strong run from Turner. An eighth score came with 10 minutes remaining, Luke Thompson bursting over after the London defence was stretched left and right, with Sia Soliola adding a further score straight from kick-off, outstripping the entire Broncos side on his way to the line. But Saints upped the ante in the final quarter, with Matt Dawson (2), Luke Thompson, Sia Soliola and Anthony Laffranchi romping home as the visitors cruised past the 50-point mark.
There was still time for two more Saints scores, Anthony Laffranchi charging over from close range and Dawson bursting in at the corner after good work from Turner. The Broncos coach, Joey Grima, said: “There was a clear difference in effort today from last week.
“Yes, we were still beaten heavily, but I could not question the work the players put in.
“We gave it a go and I think it was a case of us running out of gas as much as anything else.
“I thought St Helens’ game management was magnificent and they kept us on the back foot a lot of the time.
“But I asked for enthusiasm from the players and I got a lot of it.”