Saints sail into semis
St Helens continued their march towards a fourth successive Challenge Cup final appearance with a typically efficient victory at Gateshead.
Last Updated: 30/05/09 8:06pm
St Helens continued their march towards a fourth successive Challenge Cup final appearance with a typically efficient victory at Gateshead.
In the process Mick Potter's men, winners of the cup for the last three seasons, set a new record of reaching the last four on nine consecutive occasions.
Saints' performance was thoroughly professional and included 11 tries, the majority of which involved England duo Leon Pryce and Jon Wilkin and a 1,000th goal for the club for Sean Long.
And despite the scoreline, a healthy crowd of 4,325 was reason enough for the home side to be positive, with them making only their second competitive appearance against a Super League side since they were forced to quit the competition a decade ago.
Despite Gateshead narrowing the pitch to allow for a more physical contest, Saints started off in the best possible fashion and led before the clock had passed two minutes.
Matt Gidley was the scorer, his first try in eight weeks coming off a neat ball from Wilkin. Long missed the goal but then played his part in a second try moments later.
Dart
Long roared into space after a scything break, but he found his run blocked by Nick Youngquest, so James Roby finished the job off with a close-range dart.
Ben McAlpine then got Gateshead moving in attack and nearly scored after a footrace with Paul Wellens, although as it was, the latter was the next over the line, bundling through after a cute pass from Wilkin. The try allowed Long the chance to reach his landmark.
The scores continued to flow, with Chris Flannery and Maurie Fa'asavalu both crossing for easy tries, before Kyle Eastmond - now kicking instead of Long - raced clear after a neat interchange with Pryce.
A suspiciously forward-looking pass from Fa'asavalu then handed Pryce a 12th try in 11 outings, but the largest cheer of the half was reserved for a score from McAlpine, who stole a loose ball from Puletua and raced away to the line. Youngquest added the extras.
The score seemed to galvanise Gateshead and for the opening period of the second half they kept their opponents quiet until Matty Ashurst got himself on the score sheet after some smart work from Pryce.
Freedom
Wellens then claimed his second score, his seventh in five games, before Gidley and Pryce both topped up their first half scores with another apiece.
Not to be outdone, Flannery, enjoying the freedom given to him by a switch to the centres from his usual role in the pack, grabbed his second at a canter, with Eastmond converting for the eighth time.
