NO DISGRACE
Regan and Co run riot but brave Wigan youngsters never stopped battling
Wigan 0 St Helens 42
REGAN GRACE and Jack We l s by provided reminders of St Helens’ talent production line as the champions saw off a Wigan team full of youngsters.
Warriors coach Adrian Lam made 12 changes to the side that beat Wakefield and handed six players their debuts, including Ellery Hanley’s son Umyla.
They battled admirably for long periods against the much more experienced Saints, who had two tries each from their own academy graduates in Grace and teenager Welsby.
Both touched down in either half to send Saints top of Super League – though they now have the weekend off while Wigan head into a Challenge Cup semi- final with Leeds.
Lam will bring back his big guns for that, but must have been encouraged by some good performances despite the defeat.
The writing was on the wall for the young Warriors when they trailed 18-0 after as many minutes.
Alex Walmsley barged his way over for what is becoming his customary try before Saints took advantage of Wigan’s Sam Halsall being sent to the sin-bin for a late challenge on Lachlan Coote.
Kristian Woolf ’s side scored twice in his absence, one from either winger, as Welsby and Grace both took advantage of smart Jonny Lomax passes.
Wigan were struggling to contain their opponents but regrouped admirably to keep the scoreline the same until half-time. It remained that way for another 11 secondhalf minutes before Morgan Knowles took Kyle Amor’s pass to charge over.
That sparked another scoring burst as James Bentley ducked under two tackles to score and Welsby finished a smart pass from Kevin Naiqama.
Saints’ desire to keep their opponents scoreless was illustrated by a superb Lomax tackle on a try-bound Chris Hankinson before Grace rounded off the scoring late on while Lomax was in the sin-bin.