DANNY Richardson scored a 20-point haul as Saints under 19s defeated Warrington 36-12 in the Academy Super 7s at Langtree Park on Friday.

The Wolves side had toppled Wigan 28-26 the previous week, but Saints' youngsters succeeded where their local rivals had failed as they continued their fight to take top spot.

A strong defensive display and good execution saw Saints lead 18-0 at the break.

Richardson crossed twice in the first half, opening the scoring from Calvin Wellington’s break.

Midway through the period, the stand off went between the posts from Liam Cooper’s return pass.

Regan Grace then raced in from 40 metres before the interval.

Wolves got one back after the restart, Yoan Veve going over from dummy half. However, Josh Eaves went over at the other end to keep Saints in control.

Just after the hour-mark Jack Fox went in at the right corner to get Warrington’s second, with the touchline conversion reducing the gap to 12.

Saints sealed it nine minutes later when captain Joe Ryan went over from Aaron Smith’s pass.

Smith added a sixth Saints try three minutes from time to wrap it up, while Richardson landed his sixth conversion.