But on the field, Saints superior power and speed were sufficient to emphasise the growing gulf between full-time and part-time pros and see the World Club Champions ease past Hornets dogged, determined resistance.

But, certainly, for the first 20 minutes this resembled an even contest. For the first quarter Hornets were absolutely error-free; no dropped balls, no penalties conceded. Faced with a wall of watertight commitment, Saints were forced to work for tries for Meli and Wilkin to take a 12-nil lead.

But the effort of the first quarter began to tell and, as balls began to go to ground, Saints pried open the chinks in the Hornets defence. Four quick-fire tries from Graham, Wellens (2) and Gardner stretched the home side into a half time lead of 36-0: helped in no small part by Paul Sculthorpe's 100% with the boot.

Saints hit Hornets with a full-on three punch combination in the first 8 minutes of the second half. Gardner, Wilkin and Meli taking advantage of a stretched Hornets defence.

But Hornets dug deep and went on the attack. Good field position courtesy of Simon Svabic's boot saw Hornets push Saints into an error. From the resulting scrum, Gary Hulse skipped down the line, slid a teasing grubber behind Gardner and Bolu Fagborun showed good pace to dive and touch down. The Hornets celebrated in style.

Saints responded with a Sculthorpe try, but - on the next sortie into saints territory - a class cut-out pass from Dave McConnell sent Eric Andrews blasting through the ponderous Meli for a cracking try. Up went the volume from the travelling support: two consecutive attacks, two tries. Not a bad strike rate at all.

Two late tries from Fa'vasavalu and Wilkin gave the scoreline a bit of a lop-sided look, but Hornets were out on their feet at the hooter.

In the end, the result that many anticipated and a lesson in slick, fluid football from the best cub side in the world.

But, despite the defeat, there was a mountain of positives to take away. The error-free first quarter was a delight to watch - Saint Helens compelled to work hard for their tries.

Up front, the pack worked hard taking the game to saints; out wide, Kev King and Lee Paterson matched Gidley and Talau; Gary Hulse got involved in pretty much everything; Simon Svabic repeatedly drove saints downfield with a series of searching kicks.

Off the field, the support was magnificent. Pumped up at full volume, the fans sang their hearts out for 80 minutes. A tremendous effort.

Overall, it was a good night for the club. While Saints trundle off, probably to Wembley, Hornets received the huge shot in the arm that should rejuvenate a, thus far, stuttering season.

If we take the effort, commitment and sheer bloody graft through into our league form, things should get much better from here on in.