BARBA IS A CUT ABOVE
MATTY LEES saw red but leaders Saints still proved too white hot to handle.
They ripped Salford apart with an 11-try wonder show led by full-back Ben Barba.
But the victory was marred by the sight of him being stretchered off with his neck in a brace seven minutes before the end.
It was a sad ending for the Aussie, who had scored his first hattrick and set up three more tries.
Salford didn’t have a clue how to handle him or Saints even after Lees got sent off late in the first half for a high tackle on Niall Evalds.
Saints are now four points clear but will badly miss Man of Steel favourite Barba if he faces a lengthy lay-off. The squat full-back doesn’t look like he’d be the fastest but he’s almost impossible to stop at times.
His first try saw him outstrip two attempted tacklers and his second was a blistering 95-metre interception effort.
It was the sixth time this year he’s scored twice but still he hadn’t finished and in the second-half completed his first Saints hat-trick.
It took his tally to 15 tries in 13 games to make him Super League’s leading scorer.
He’ll also be pretty high up in the assists table too, after helping lay on three more tries in this rout.
He put in Tommy Makinson and Ryan Morgan early in the game and also laid on the second of Regan Grace’s tries.
Dominique Peyroux also touched down in a blistering opening spell during which the visitors raced into a 22-0 lead.
Tyrone McCarthy halted the charge with a 28th-minute try but Barba and Grace hit back to make it 32-6 at the break.
Grace, Mark Percival and Barba all went over as Saints continued to rack up the points, before Junior Sa’u was sin-binned for Salford.
Theo Fages and Morgan added further tries to doom Salford to a defeat that drops them down to eighth below Wakefield on points difference.