Challenge Cup third round: St Helens hold off Leeds Rhinos; Salford Red Devils ease past Widnes Vikings

We round-up Saturday's third-round action in the Challenge Cup, which included St Helens seeing off holders Leeds Rhinos and last year's runners-up Salford Red Devils going through to the quarter-finals...

Salford Red Devils 68-4 Widnes Vikings

Salford became the third team to secure their place in this season's quarter-finals with a comprehensive 68-4 win over Championship side Widnes at the AJ Bell Stadium.

Two first-half tries from debutant centre Matt Costello and full-back Morgan Escare crossing either side of the break helped the Red Devils on their way, while Krisnan Inu had a fine day with the boot by kicking 10 conversions from 12 attempts.

Despite being bottom of Super League and without a win to their name this year, Richard Marshall's men always looked a step ahead of the injury-hit Vikings.

Tui Lolohea also crossed for last year's runners-up in the first half, with debutant Daniel Hill pulling an unconverted try back for Widnes on the stroke of half time.

It was all Salford in the second half though, with Andy Ackers, Sebastine Ikahihifo, Kallum Watkins, Jack Ormondroyd, Rhys Williams and Chris Atkin all going over along with Escare getting his second.

"It's important we play ourselves into form because we've got some big challenges ahead in the coming weeks," Red Devils head coach Marshall said.

St Helens 26-18 Leeds Rhinos

Two tries apiece from Tommy Makinson and Regan Grace helped St Helens book their place in the quarter-finals against a Leeds side who pushed them all the way despite having a man sent off.

The holders were already stricken with injuries which included them being forced to play back rows Rhyse Martin and Cameron Smith in the halves and were dealt another blow when Zane Tetevano was sent off in the second half for a late hit on Theo Fages.

But two converted tries from Brad Dwyer pulled Leeds from being 20-6 down to trailing by just two points with 10 minutes to go before Makinson finished off a superb attack in the 79th minute.

St Helens had gone ahead in the third minute through Makinson, who converted his own try and kicked a penalty to put them 8-6 up at half-time after Mikolaj Oledzki had gone over for a converted score for Leeds.

Makinson kicked another penalty following Tetevano's dismissal and then two tries from Grace looked to have sent Saints through to last eight. However, the Rhinos rallied to set up an enthralling finish only to ultimately fall short.

"We're in the hat and that's all that counts," St Helens head coach Kristian Woolf said. "I wouldn't put it down as our best performance but we found a way to win."

Catalans Dragons 26-6 Wakefield Trinity

Catalans Dragons swept aside Wakefield for the second year in a row to book their place in the last eight of the Betfred Challenge Cup with victory in the second game of the day's double-header at St Helens.

Wales prop Gil Dudson scored his first try for the club as the 2018 winners followed up their 36-24 win over Trinity a year ago with an even more convincing win at the Totally Wicked Stadium.

Wakefield's misery was compounded by the loss of star winger Tom Johnstone with a head knock at half-time, while injuries to full-back Max Jowitt and hooker Josh Wood caused further disruption for coach Chris Chester.

The Dragons led only 8-6 at the break but dominated the game after half-time to score three unanswered tries thanks largely to another man-of-the-match display from full-back Sam Tomkins, who crossed for one of those tries along with Dudson, Josh Drinkwater and Tom Davies.

The reward for Steve McNamara's team is a quarter-final against Championship side Swinton Lions or 2019 Cup winners Warrington Wolves, who play their third-round tie at Heywood Road on Sunday.

"We wanted to start the season well," McNamara said. "We've got some younger players in there and we want to keep evolving and developing as a team."

Featherstone Rovers 14-34 Hull FC

Hull FC booked a date with Wigan in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals after beating Featherstone at the Millennium Stadium.

The Super League side ran in six tries, with Carlos Tuimavave and Josh Griffin scoring twice as they proved too strong for their Championship opponents.

Jake Connor ran the show for the Black and Whites, with the full-back landing five from six conversions and having a hand in several tries.

It was a perfect start for Featherstone after they won the ball back from the kick-off and they immediately used it to their advantage, with Josh Hardcastle crossing off a kick in the first minute.

But Buerta Faraimo hit back for the visitors two minutes later from Danny Houghton's kick, followed by Tuimavave and Griffin going over twice and Jordan Johnstone adding another to establish a 34-4 lead at half time.

Rovers rallied after the break as Brett Ferres and Ben Blackmore both crossed, with Dane Chisholm landing one conversion, but ultimately there was no stopping the visitors progressing.