St Helens 32 Wigan Warriors 10

Zak Hardaker scores the try of the night but Wigan were well beaten at St Helens

After Saints held a slender - but deserved - 12-4 interval advantage, three quickfire tries shortly after the restart effectively ended the game as a contest.

Fair play to Wigan, their heads never dropped and Zak Hardaker scored the try of the game - showing remarkable football skills as well as fantastic pace - to give the Cherry and White faithful something to cheer.

But the Wigan pack was missing too much size and experience, and Saints were able to cut loose and underline their own title credentials.

Wigan had got off to the perfect start as they forced a couple of repeat sets inside the opening five minutes.

And when the home side were penalised for saying something out of turn, Hardaker's boot put them 2-0 ahead.

Lachlan Coote levelled the scores on nine minutes after Morgan Smithies was penalised within easy kicking distance.

And the Saints hit the front five minutes later with a simple try from Tommy Makinson.

The home side had numbers out right, and a long ball found the England wing on the outside of Joe Burgess, and able to walk over.

Coote missed the touchline goal, and Wigan found themselves back to within two points just before the halfway point in the half.

Saints were pinged for a hand in the tackle, and Hardaker couldn't miss from bang in front.

But Wigan couldn't make the most of some decent attacking opportunities, and the defence cracked again six minutes before half-time.

Again Saints managed to work an overlap on the right edge, and Makinson had an even easier task to plonk the ball down in the corner.

This time Coote curled over a beauty from the touchline to make it 12-4 at half-time, and the home side went further in front within four minutes of the restart.

Jonny Lomax was held up short, but the respite was only temporary as Theo Fages clever kick through was pouched by Coote, who added the extras.

Wigan's night was quickly going from bad to worse, and Saints were in again when Burgess failed to take a high kick from Fages, allowing Kevin Naiqama an easy score.

Coote again made no mistake from out wide, and the Australian added another penalty to make it 26-4 with 25 minutes still to go.

Wigan then pressed the self-destruct button when Tommy Leuluai's kick was charged down by Morgan Knowles.

The ball flew back to the Wigan line where it was touched down by Lomax, Coote's goal making it 32-4.

Credit Wigan, their heads didn't drop, and they scored the last - and best - try of the game just after the hour mark to restore some pride.

Liam Farrell tried to keep the ball alive on the last tackle, and the ball fell at the feet of Hardaker, inside Wigan territory.

The full-back fly-kicked the ball on three times, chased by half the Saints side, before touching down by the posts and, after catching his breath, adding the goal.