Sean Long returned to inspire St Helens to their best win of the season, 46-10 at the expense of his old club Wigan in a one-sided derby in front of a capacity 17,500 crowd at Knowsley Road.

Saints have made a stuttering start to the season but they hit their straps against their arch rivals, with Long in dominant form on his return from a two-match absence with a knee injury.

The former Great Britain half-back scored one try, had a hand in three others and kicked four goals to underline his value to the team.

Saints, who were still without four international forwards through injury, never looked back after running in 22 points in the first 26 minutes to establish a stranglehold on the game.

The Wigan line was under almost constant siege as the home side struck a purple patch in the opening quarter.

Centre Matt Gidley dropped Jon Wilkin's pass with the line at his mercy and Lee Gilmour and Long were both denied by last-gasp tackles from Pat Richards.

It was no surprise when Saints opened the scoring through centre Willie Talau, who went over after taking a superb pass behind his back by Leon Pryce.

Long missed the conversion but made up for it with a successful penalty, one of a series awarded against Wigan by referee Richard Silverwood.

Long and Chris Flannery then combined to get Gidley over and Wigan were reduced to 12 men with the sin-binning of hooker Mickey Higham for persistent interference by his team.

Saints made their numerical advantage tell by scoring two further tries in a five-minute spell. James Graham grabbed his fourth of the season after taking Maurie Fa'asavalu's offload and captain Paul Wellens went over straight from a scrum.

Long kicked a third goal to make it 22-0 and, even when Wigan reached the Saints line in their first serious attack, Phil Bailey's try was disallowed for obstruction.

Little went right for the Warriors, who were forced into a reshuffle after losing full-back Richards with a facial injury.

They pulled a try back early in the second half when replacement hooker Michael McIlorum was driven over from dummy half and Sean O'Loughlin kicked his first goal of the season but it proved to nothing more than a dent in Saints' impressive armour.

When makeshift full-back Liam Colbon failed to clear Long's grubber kick, the scrum-half followed up to claim the vital touch and he also sent winger Francis Meli over for a try before taking a well-earned rest.

Pryce also grabbed a deserved try before Wigan pulled one back when Harrison Hansen sent centre George Carmont through a gap for a consolation score.

But Saints finished with a flourish, Meli claiming his second try, which teenage substitute Kyle Eastmond goaled, and the young half-back put the seal on an impressive show with a 40-metre dash to the line for his side's ninth try.