St Helens have put one hand on the League Leaders’ Shield with an impressive 14-6 derby win over Wigan that takes them 10 points clear at the top with one round left of the regular Super League season.
Even without Ben Barba and Mark Percival, Super League’s leading tryscorers with 39 touchdowns between them, Saints had too much flair for an injury-hit Wigan side who will lose second spot in the table if Castleford beat Huddersfield on Friday.
It was also St Helens’ 100th league win over Wigan which was lapped up by the 3000 travelling fans who can surely start booking their tickets for Old Trafford.
Both sides showed signs of nerves in a cagey opening, with several handling errors even before the big hits started going in.
The first half was fast and furious but yielded only one try, which was something of a gift to Dominique Peyroux after defenders Liam Marshall and former Gold Coast utility Dan Sarginson got in a muddle attempting to collect a grubber kick from Theo Fages.
Danny Richardson converted the try and extended his side’s lead with a 19th-minute penalty, which followed a superb break through the heart of the Wigan defence from the in-form Thompson.
The visitors continued to boss the show in the second half, when Tom Makinson and Richardson terrorised the Wigan defence with some electric running.
Saints laid siege to their opponents’ line and the pressure told when Knowles took a short pass from Fages to force his way over for their second try, to which Richardson added a third goal.
Determined not to be whitewashed, Wigan stepped up their efforts in the final quarter without ever looking like threatening to take the spoils.
Prop Romain Navarrete had a try disallowed for a double movement and Sarginson was held up over the line before fullback Sam Tomkins jinked his way over for a solo try 10 minutes from the end and added the conversion.