LIVERPOOL St Helens followed up last week’s win in the ADM Premier League with a 49-24 victory against Tyldesley.

They were made to work hard though, particularly in the first half, before completely dominating proceedings after the restart for a result which puts their season back on track.

The visitors were first on the board when a speculative high kick was allowed to bounce by the LSH defence before being gratefully scooped up and ran in for the opening try. LSH replied in the 12th minute with a fine try from hooker John Arnold after good work from Darren Wilson and Lee Holland, converted by Morris. Four minutes later an alert Dan Webster did what every young player is told to do “play to the whistle” and while everyone stood around after a Tyldesley knock on he stormed up the pitch to provide new winger Holland with the second try.

A breakaway try from the visitors was followed by a try from Dan Webster after a typical charge from Dave Cunliffe had opened up the Tyldesley defence before Tyldesley levelled again with try in the 39th minute. There was still time for LSH to win a penalty and for Jamie Morris to convert it to give them a slender 20-17 lead at half time.

An eventful if unspectacular game continued in much the same fashion in the second half except that LSH now dominated possession and territory with Chris Houlton, Paddy Royle and the whole-hearted Sean Richardson visible in their efforts. This brought them four tries, two scored by Holland showing brilliant pace, to register a hat-trick of tries on his home debut and one each from Jamie Morris and Darren Wilson, once again the primary driving force behind the win.

So, a much brighter performance from the Moss Laners sets them up for a decent season in the new league which is turning out to be far more competitive than one or two doomsayers had predicted. Next week’s trip to unbeaten league leaders Trafford MV will give a much clearer indication of what lies ahead for Andy Northey’s men.