LIVERPOOL St Helens got off to a winning start in South Lancs/Cheshire One with a seven try bonus point home win against a pacy Leigh side, who having been relegated from North One last season, showed glimpses of why they will be dangerous if given the room to play.

The game started poorly for LSH, as a charged down kick led to Leigh scoring out wide to take a 5-0 lead after only two minutes.

LSH hit back immediately with a trademark catch and drive, finished off by the returning Mario Bonati, converted for a 7-5.scoreline.

Poor concentration from the home side then allowed Leigh to run in another try down the wing to retake the lead 10-7.

LSH then took control of the game, firstly through a debut try by the mightily impressive flanker Rob Mitchell, quickly followed by a strong scrummage allowing Mark Potter to dive over from close range.

This gave LSH a half time lead of 17-10.

After the break and some strong words from Coach Northey, LSH came out of the blocks quickly.

Firstly with a try for centre Josh Houghton following a typically strong carry and offload from Dave Cunliffe, followed by a second try for Mitchell, diving over after some good work from the front five.

LSH then began to give away penalties, resulting in a yellow card for Alex Kean, Leigh capitalised with two tries to bring the score to 29-20 after 60 minutes.

LSH then hit back again with two more tries, firstly from Adam Gore and then Mitchell completing his hat trick to stretch the lead to 39-20.

The last 15 minutes saw Leigh reduce the deficit to 39-27 with the final try of the game followed by an unfortunate skirmish and a red card for Matty Cunliffe.

LSH can be reasonably pleased with their first outing of the season, with strong performances from Dave Cunliffe after his introduction at half time and particularly the back row trio of new boy Mitchell, Sam Ward and Mark Potter.

LSH: 15 Kean 14 Cunliffe M 13 Houghton 12 Rawsthorne 11 McBride 10 Johnston 9 Wilson D (capt) 1 Williamson 2 Bonati 3 Fryer 4 Gore 5 Royle 6 Mitchell 7 Ward 8 Potter, Reps 16 Heywood 17 McAuley 18 Cunliffe D