Exeter 45 Liverpool St Helens 14 TWO brilliant individualtries by scrum-half Graham Eldoy both converted by Paul Brett were the only tangible LSH response to a thoroughly professional display by promotion chasing Exeter on Saturday.

Exeter dominated in all departments, and only resilient defence, and a refusal to throw in the towel by the Moss Laners, prevented an avalanche.

The loss of Kevin Davies with a badly broken nose after half an hour, the tactical 'resting' of prop Colin King, and the second half substitution of Dave Gaskell and Dave Lupton, no doubt with next Saturday's home game with Harrogate in mind, disrupted play, but the match had been won by Exeter by half-time, when they had a 23-0 lead.

Their well-drilled pack deprived the visitors of decent possession. They dominated the line out and set scrums and were far superior in ball retention in the tackle, rucks and mauls.

The vocal local supporters were quick to applaud two tries by Eldoy, both from 40-45 metres out when, on each occasion, he dummied and side-stepped through the whole team to score under the posts.

More of the same will be welcome on Saturday when LSH's fate may well be decided. A home win is vital. Kick off 3pm.

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