Saints 68 Huddersfield Giants 18 TRY-STARVED against leaders Wigan, Saints ran riot with a dozen in cutting the lumbering Giants' down to pygmy proportions.

But Saints shouldn't place too much importance on this runaway result, for the pathetic, pedestrian performance of basement club Hudderfield was fodder indeed for the 'bring back relegation' lobby.

So caretaker coach ex-Saints' star Phil Veivers - who described his side's showing as 'total capitulation' - faces a monumental task to keep Huddersfield in Super League, and the Giants' failure to compete, along with fans voting with their feet via the season's lowest crowd of 4,227, contrived to produce a funereal atmosphere.

However, following the surrender at Swansea, it was heartening to witness teamwork being restored as number one priority in Saints' game plan, with each of the 12 touchdowns the fruits of good handling and relentless support work.

Leading the charge was will-o'-the-wisp scrum-half Sean Long, who had a hand in almost every Saints' touchdown and landed 10 goals to lift the McEwan Lager man-of-the-match award by a landslide majority, while the 'Oil of Ulay' accolade went to three-try Paul Atcheson.

Other encouraging signs after Saints' eighth win, which leapfrogged them into fourth position over Bradford, included: the classy display of Tommy Martyn, the telling breaks of captain Chris Joynt, and the restoration of Paul Sculthorpe to his rightful loose-forward spot Saints' try avalanche rained down on Huddersfield within eight minutes when Julian O'Neill and Keiron Cunningham sent Joynt over, and then Keiron was 'turned' in the act of touching down before the Test hooker combined with his skipper to put Paul Newlove in.

Long was off target with the conversion attempt, but it mattered not as the former Wigan star broke through over 50 yards to send Atcheson behind the Eccleston End uprights, and with 16 points on the board in as many minutes any prospect of a giant-killing act by Huddersfield lay in ruins.

But, inspired by ex-Knowsley Road winger Danny Arnold and captain Danny Russell, the Yorkshire side hit back with a snap try by Chris Orr to which Paul Cook tacked on the goal, but it proved a false dawn for the Giants as a first try of the season for O'Neill followed by one from Karle Hammond enabled Saints to turn round 28-6 in front.

And there was no let-up on the resumption as Martyn's shrewd pass sent in the rampaging Paul Davidson, and Craig Weston's try goaled by Cook was a mere bagatelle as soaraway Saints turned the screw in what proved to be a point-a-minute seven-try second half.

Substitute Vila Matautia returned after his arm at Preston in February, as woebegone Huddersfield's cause was hardly helped by sin-binning of Dean Hangar for holding down Long, and Saints' took full toll to carve out further tries for Damien Smith and Atcheson. Ian Pickavance, Sculthorpe and Anthony Sullivan then set up a try for Chris Smith, and there was a brief respite for the demoralised Giants when Arnold's break was finished off by James Bunyan, with Cook converting magnificently from touch. However the slaughter continued unabated as further touchdowns by Atcheson, Sullivan and Chris Smith ensured Saints a fifty-point winning margin.

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