Liverpool St Helens reached the final of the Lancashire Trophy with a finely controlled display led by a tremendous pack performance.

In a stirring encounter they matched the physicality of the home side but importantly made full use of their plentiful possession, punishing penalties and registering four tries.

The game, very well handled by the referee and his assistants, saw red cards for two players, one on each side, both for foul play.

After De la Salle had taken the lead with an early penalty LSH set the tone for the afternoon with a powerful catch and drive almost to the try-line for scrum half James Burrows to supply the returning Greg Smith with a pass enabling the stand-off to coolly nip through a gap to score the opening try, before converting it.

With prop Mark Fryer and hooker Chris Houlton both having fine games the LSH pack continued to make their superiority tell and Smith landed another penalty after 16 minutes.

De la Salle then showed what they could do with a number of pacy moves along their backs but some excellent tackling kept them at bay coupled with a bit of luck when only a forward pass prevented them from scoring down the left wing.

LSH meanwhile, continued to play a direct form of rugby and were rewarded by scrummaging a series of penalties in the right hand corner leading to Burrows scoring from short range to give LSH a 15-3 lead at half time.

Smith slotted another penalty after 47 minutes before the De La Salle backs got their reward five minutes later with a converted try down the right flank making the score 10-18 which is how it stayed for the next twenty minutes.

Both sides knew that the next score would be crucial. LSH’s dominance both in the loose and set piece then paid dividends when a series of scrums close to the De La Salle line saw a repeat manoeuvre from Burrows to notch his second try, converted by Smith.

The home side were not finished however and they scored again in the 75th minute when a one of their forwards charged through to score a converted try.

LSH then kept possession for the remainder of the game sealing the victory with a penalty try after a continued pressure by the pack in the right hand corner.

This Saturday LSH are at home to Winnington Park. Kick off 3pm