Washington Presidents nil St Helens Cardinals 32 THE 300-mile round trip to Washington proved worthwhile for the Cardinals as they recorded their first shut out of 97 and defeated Washington on their own turf for the first time in five years.

Any advantage the home side may have had after the Cardinals four-hour journey faded from the kick-off. Clive Sefia returned the kick 82 yards down the left side-line to give St Helens the best start possible.

The Cardinals' defence dominated the first two quarters of the game giving the Presidents little or no time to put together any form of attack.

Barlow, Buckley, Hogan and Wainwright each registered sacks on the luckless Presidents' quarterback.

Giant defensive lineman Tony McKibbon broke through the Presidents' line to block an attempted punt and then went on to recover the loose ball in the endzone for a touchdown and a 12-0 Cardinal lead.

The Cardinals' offence then kicked into gear.

Following a rather lack-lustre first-half performance the Cardinal offence, lead by quarterback Paul Fallon, moved the ball 63 yards on six plays ending with Sefia's four yard run. Facing a marauding Cardinal defence things for the Presidents' just got worse, Ray Elliot picked off a worried Jeff Rutter pass and returned it 42 yards to set up St Helens in excellent field position.

Four plays and 28 yards later Stuart Archer crashed over behind the blocking of Metcalfe and DeMarco and St Helens lead 25-0.

The final cheer of the game was once again for the St Helens defence, veteran linebacker Simon Wainwright returning yet another interception 56 yards for the games final score.

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