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18 minutes ago
Betfred Super League
St Helens (38) 82
Tries: Knowles 2, Murphy, Sailor 4, Sironen, Robertson 2, Feldt, Lomax, Percival, Batchelor, Delaney Goals: Percival 11
Salford (0) 0
St Helens kicked off their Super League season with a 82-0 thrashing of a youthful and depleted Salford Red Devils at the Totally Wicked Stadium.
Tristan Sailor scored four tries on his debut, while Morgan Knowles and Harry Robertson crossed twice each.
Lewis Murphy and Kyle Feldt also scored on their Saints bow, with Jonny Lomax, Curtis Sironen, Mark Percival, Jack Batchelor and George Delaney completing the rout
Salford named just 16 players in their squad, including eight debutants, due to a salary cap imposed with their takeover still to be ratified.
St Helens went ahead inside five minutes when Knowles powered through a weak Salford defence from 10 metres.
Murphy crossed two minutes later in the left corner after a swift team break, but Percival could only convert the first from close range.
A third try in five minutes meant the game was done as a contest when Sailor crossed with an excellent burst of pace and Sironen added a fourth on nine minutes from Lomax’s pass.
On 22 minutes, Harry Robertson twisted into the path of Sailor’s searching kick to touch down in the right corner for try number five.
Knowles and Robertson grabbed their second tries of the evening before half-time, with the former matching his 2024 season’s total in the space of 34 minutes.
Feldt slid over in the corner just a minute into the second half, the try confirmed after a quick check from the video referee and Lomax was next to score as he met Robertson’s pass.
Sailor’s second and third tries came in quick succession, the first following superb team interplay and the seconmd a dart for the corner on 56 minutes.
Less than 10 minutes later, Sailor added his fourth, strolling through after Alex Wolmsley drove forward from a scrum and Percival went over soon after good play on the left but he failed to convert his own try.
He did end the night with 11 successful kicks from 15, as Batchelor and Delaney added the finishing touches to a performance which offered no sympathy to their visitors’ predicament.
St Helens: Welsby, Feldt, Roberson, Percival, Murphy, Sailor, Lomax, Walmsley, Clark, Lees, Sironen, Batchelor, Knowles
Interchanges: Bell, Whiteley, Wingfield, Delaney, Bennison
Salford: Connell, Fitzgerald, Wagstaffe, Coan, Murray, Morgan, Wells, Yates, Hope, Shields, Hutchings, Lagar
Interchanges: Bullock, Hellewell, Chan
Referee: Jack Smith
