St Helens secured another Super League victory with a 4-0 win over a resilient Celtic Crusaders side in Bridgend on Saturday night.

Saints had a point to prove before kick-off after a shock home defeat to Hull KR eight days ago, while the Crusaders were still searching for their first win of the season.

But the Crusaders' prospects were hit with the loss of influential half-back and captain Jace van Dijk and top try-scorer Tony Duggan, both through injury.

Tom Armstrong went over in the 57th minute to win the game but Sean Long missed the resulting kick.

St Helens put the Welsh side under early pressure, however they could not plough over the try line due to some stubborn defence.

After soaking that up on their own line, the Crusaders paid scant respect to the reputation of their illustrious opponents and almost got the opening try of the match when loose forward Peter Lupton was put over just a yard from the line.

Unfortunately for the Welsh side he had knocked on in the act of touching down.

Those scoring attempts by the Crusaders were sporadic as they mostly defended with gusto.

Maurie Fa'asavalu went over the line but referee Phil Bentham gave a kick under the posts to the home side, declaring that the ball had not been grounded.

As the rain started to come down over the Brewery Field, incredibly the Crusaders had produced another excellent effort, similar to those against Leeds and Hull in previous weeks, by holding one of the Super League giants in a half of rugby which finished point-less.

The deadlock, which had lasted for nearly an hour, was eventually broken when the Crusaders defence buckled and allowed Saints wing Tom Armstrong to just ground the ball in the left corner.

Half-back Sean Long marshalled St Helens throughout the match but they dropped too many balls, went up too many blind alleys and Long was forced to kick the ball away more than he would have liked.

The Crusaders' resilience was epitomised by a stunning tackle on Armstrong from stand-off Damien Quinn in the left corner.

Last year's Challenge Cup winners also thought they had got a try through a Long grubber but that was also knocked on.

And Bryn Hargreaves dropped the ball when scoring a try for Saints appeared the easier task right on the hooter.

Such was the bravery of the performance from the home side that the visiting fans cheered the Welsh outfit off the pitch at the end.