Strong Joynt is the architect

Real champions they may be, but St Helens supporters who secretly care more about being champions of south-west Lancashire will have gone away from this Silk Cut Challenge Cup tie happy.

Real champions they may be, but St Helens supporters who secretly care more about being champions of south-west Lancashire will have gone away from this Silk Cut Challenge Cup tie happy.

Much of the mid-section of the game might have been messy, but in its opening and closing minutes Saints showed an ability to carve out clear-cut try-scoring opportunities that Wigan could only envy. They also had in their captain, Chris Joynt, the player who made the crucial contributions, just as he did against Brisbane Broncos.

As expected, Saints risked their outstanding full-back, Paul Wellens, a little over two weeks after he fractured his eye socket in their unforgettable World Club Challenge victory over Brisbane - one of a number of recent triumphs that made St Helens the logical favourites going into this game.

Wigan, resplendent in their new change-strip of all black, had a couple of early scares, one from a Shaun Long kick and run from Tommy Martyn, that just caught Martyn offside, and another from a typical bout of improvised handling on the last tackle.

Adrian Lam and Andy Farrell then linked beautifully to send Kris Radlinski through, but the Wigan full-back lost the ball as he was hauled down near the line.

Long missed a penalty for Saints, but their first points soon followed. Joynt made the break, going through Gary Connolly's tackle - not a phrase written very often - before slipping the ball inside for Anthony Sullivan to touch down. Long kicked the goal.

Joynt is a player who has been improving with age, and after 16 minutes he struck again. Picking the ball up from acting half, he struggled his way through a series of attempted tackles to plunge over the line, Long tagging on the extras to confirm Saints' dominant start.

Wigan badly needed to get back into the game quickly, and they did so when Connolly made up for his early, uncharacteristic, mistake by getting into position to catch Lam's kick and clamp the ball down for his side's first points.

Wigan could have been level if Terry Newton had managed to get a hand to Lam's skidding kick, Sonny Nickle's boots taking it to safety instead, and Saints' six-point advantage survived until the end at what had often been a scrappy first half.

The first points of the second half were always likely to be pivotal, and Saints sniffed them when another powerful run from Joynt led to Wes Davies, on for the injured Radlinski, being caught offside. Saints piled on the pressure rather than going for goals, but Long's eventual grubber kick was too firmly struck.

Saints were also without a key player, Phil Sculthorpe nursing a suspected broken jaw. It was a game with plenty of activity above the shoulders, and Harvey Howard was placed on report for a high tackle on Peter Shiels.

Saints rejected a couple of chances to go for a drop goal that would have given them a strategic seven-point lead. Kieron Cunningham thought he was clear after an interception, although an 80-yard run might have been daunting even for a hooker as mobile as him. As it was, he was called back for a knock-on.

It took 21 minutes of the second half before any points were added, Farrell cutting the deficit to four with a 40-yard penalty after Joynt, whose try had been his 100th for the club, had lain all over Howard in a tackle.

Three minutes later, another of Saints' blue-chip avenues of attack paid off, Paul Newlove driving through Lam's tackle after taking Martyn's pass and finding the willing young forward, Tim Jonkers, backing up on the inside to take the scoring pass and leave Long a simple conversion.

The try that made it certain was vintage St Helens. Wellens, who had justified the gamble of playing him throughout the match, began it from deep in his own territory. Long and Kevin Iro took it on and Tony Stewart completed the sort of move that deserved to decide this sort of contest.

St Helens: Wellens; Hoppe, Iro, Newlove, Sullivan; Martyn, Long; Nickle, Cunningham, Fairleigh ,Joynt, Shiels, Sculthorpe. Subs used: Jonkers, Stankevitch, Stewart, Hall.

Wigan: Radlinski; Dallas, Renouf, Connelly, Jonson; Johns, Lam; O'Connor, Newton, Cowie, Furner, Betts, Farrell. Subs used: Davies, Cassidy, Haughton, Howard.

Referee: S Cummings (Widnes).