St Helens 30 - London Broncos 20

Saints racked up five tries to see off a spirited London side 30-20 and close the gap at the top of the engage Super League table to two points.

The Knowsley Road outfit were in charge from the start but needed a late Mike Bennett try to finally kill off a Broncos side who have now lost four on the trot.

James Roby, Darren Albert, Vinnie Anderson and Mick Higham also crossed to heap more misery on the hosts, who went into the game on the back of a 64-6 drubbing at Headingley.

St Helens coach Ian Millward was denied the services of injured Great Britain duo Sean Long and Paul Sculthorpe, with Jamie Lyon at home in Australia attending the birth of his first child.

Willie Talau returned at centre, having notched up five tries in five outings before a leg injury ruled him out for the last four games.

Broncos coach Tony Rea recalled prop Francis Stephenson to the London line-up, while loose-forward Rob Purdham returned to the bench after six weeks out with a broken hand.

Saints started brightly and quick hands in their back division released Roby - who beat the covering defence to score in the corner, James Hooper converting from the touchline.

Stephenson then spilt the ball in the tackle with the line at his mercy and was made to regret his wastefulness when Hooper stretched the lead to 8-0 with a penalty after 18 minutes.

Broncos hit back and two Nick Bradley-Qalilawa tries in the space of three minutes levelled the scores.

First Mark McLinden picked out the Australian centre, who crossed on the half-hour mark.

Then he repeated the trick three minutes later with the slippery Bradley-Qalilawa evading a sloppy tackle from Roby to score his second, although Paul Sykes failed to convert either conversion.

Albert put the Saints back on top when he picked the ball up on his own 20-metre line, palmed off Luke Dorn and won the race to put the visitors 14-8 in front at the break, Hooper making no mistake with the conversion.

London came out with all guns blazing after the break, Dorn palming the ball into the waiting arms of the onrushing Bradley-Qalilawa, who spilt it in the corner.

Saints were stung into life - Hooper cutting inside and offloading to Albert, who forced his way through a gap in the Broncos? defence to send Mark Edmondson through under the posts.

Thomas Leuluai touched down on the hour mark after smart work from Lee Hopkins before New Zealand international Anderson powered through the Broncos? defence to restore Saints? cushion.

Dorn raced in for his ninth of the season to give London a glimmer of hope but Saints closed the door just three minutes later - Higham finding Bennett, who barged his way over to put the icing on the cake.

London: Bradley-Qalilawa, Dorn, Greenwood, Haumono, Highton, Hopkins, Kirkpatrick, Leuluai, Lolohea, Lucky Luisi, McLinden, O?Halloran, Purdham. Replacements: Stephenson, Sykes, Tookey, Trindall, Williams.

St Helens: Wellens, Albert, Talau, Gilmour, Hardman, Hooper, Roby, Fozzard, Cunningham, P. Anderson, V. Anderson, Bennett, Wilkin. Replacements: Fa?asavalu, Higham, Edmondson, Mason, Moore.

London 20. Tries: Bradley-Qalilawa 2, Leuluai, Dorn. Goals: Sykes 2.

St Helens 30. Tries: Roby, Albert, Edmondson, V. Anderson, Bennett. Goals: Hooper 4, Wellens.

Referee: Ian Smith (Oldham)

Att: 5,261

Thanks to: http://www.superleague.co.uk for another excellent article.