St Helens 26-0 London: Saints maintain winning start to season
Last Updated: 09/03/19 1:09pm
St Helens maintained their unbeaten start to the season as they eased to a comfortable 26-0 victory over London Broncos to return to the top of the Super League table.
The Saints are now the only club left with a 100 per cent start to the 2019 campaign following Castleford's defeat by Warrington on Thursday night, with Justin Holbrook's side edging two points clear of the Tigers and Wolves after the opening five games.
The hosts claimed five tries through Dom Peyroux, Theo Fages, Regan Grace, Kevin Naiqama and Lachlan Coote, who also kicked three goals.
London made the worst possible start when the opening kick failed to go 10 metres and St Helens needed no second invitation to take full advantage as Fages sent Peyroux over for the first try in the opening minute of the game.
To their credit, the Broncos recovered from that early setback and settled into the contest and almost drew level when Elliot Kear looked to go over in the corner but was pulled back for a forward pass.
Some excellent defensive work from Danny Ward's side managed to keep their line intact despite being under some intense pressure from the hosts.
But Saints finally broke through the London resistance on 23 minutes when Coote's long pass allowed Grace to race over in the corner.
Seven minutes before half-time, St Helens claimed their third try when a powerful burst and clever offload by Zeb Taia allowed Fages to touch down and, with Coote kicking two first-half conversions, the home side led 16-0 at half-time.
London's defensive efforts continued at the start of the second half as they again kept their line intact until the hour mark when Saints finally found a way through thanks to a midfield break by Fages who sent Coote racing clear under the posts. He also converted to stretch the lead to 22-0.
St Helens completed the win when Naiqama crossed three minutes from time.
